What Kind of Story Is This?
by Itachiforever342
Summary: Two dark forces have spent years finding the pieces to complete their dark plans...BUT WAIT! Who holds the ones that are missing?
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own either Naruto or Yu-Gi-Oh!, so there! No suing the author, who has no money!

Okay people, like in the summary, I'm making this the WORST POSSIBLE FIC I'VE EVER WRITTEN, so if you flame it, you'll but encourage me!

MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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**What Kind of Story Is This?!**

"The Sennen Tauk's energies are nowhere to be found," the dark spirit of the Sennen Ring groused as the said Item's pointers dropped yet again. "For three years I've searched for all of them, and yet this one has proved elusive. Could they be blocked? No…even a skilled user would have trouble keeping it up consistently like this…and it couldn't have been destroyed either, for the Sennen Items cannot be demolished by normal means…"

He paced, scrubbing his hands through his hair as he tried to find out just where this vital piece to his plan was. /It couldn't be in the Shadow Realm, for I would sense it there, nor is it in the normal realm. Perhaps…could it be in another realm altogether? One I've never visited or forced into? If so, I must discover the means in which to travel between realms.\\

* * *

"After decades of scouring the land, I've yet to head a single rumor about the whereabouts of the Nibi," Tobi mused as he stood on the wall that encircled Kumogakure no Sato. "All I've been able to scrounge up is that it was stolen from Kumo's possession as soon as it was forced from its host sixteen years ago…the same year I failed to acquire the Kyubi. Could I have missed it during my time of weakness? Could it now be sealed in some deep, dark place and forgotten? No…the lure of its power is too great, it must have been sealed into a Jinchuriki _that_ year. There's no other way, for the Biju couldn't be banished from this world indefinitely, it would've resurfaced by now. If it isn't here, it must be in another dimension entirely."

He leapt down from the wall. "I must seek a way to get to this dimension where the Nibi Jinchuriki lies."

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So? Is it grating on your nerves yet? Just wait until next chapter!

*evil laugh*

Please review!


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Naruto!

Hurray! Now for my OC's appearance! I hope you're properly horrified!

Just on a side note, when it's bold when they're talking, they're speaking English. *winks*

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"**Time to go to school Missy!**"

A pair of violet eyes gazed out a window blankly.

"**Stop daydreaming! You're going to be late!**"

The pair of orbs refocused and their owner called, "**Yeah, Mrs. Josie! I'm going!**"

Platinum blonde bangs were held back by hair clips, which stood out by the wildly-permed black locks that covered the rest of the head. A ghostly tanned face with aristocratic features was still a little slack as the fifteen-year-old rushed out of the house, sure-footed even in the old, ratty white sneakers. The cool autumn air was staved off by the holey pair of jeans and shabby zip-up jacket, green. A secondhand backpack was slung across one shoulder as the high school student sprinted to the destination required.

Just as the bell rang, "Missy" sat down, ready for the day.

"**Close call, Missy. Everyone, it's time for new seating arrangements! Alphabetical order this quarter!**"

Everyone moved and the instant Missy sat down, the student behind her protested, "**Mr. Mason, I can't see anything behind this frizzball!**"

"**It happens every time, like clockwork,**" Missy breathed, putting her chin against her fisted hand.

"**Live with it, your complaint is ignored!**" Mr. Mason announced, before beginning that day's lesson.

Missy closed her eyes, feigning sleep as she always did during class. She concentrated and glimpsed into the near future, memorizing what she needed from her vision that she received from the Sennen Tauk.

The soft sound of scissors didn't alarm her, nothing did. She was used to being bullied, but usually avoided it. But this particular prank…she welcomed it. It would finally get one of her tormentors in trouble for bugging her.

Muffled giggles sounded as she "napped" and five minutes before the bell, she woke, just as the last part was being executed, and the teacher noticed. His angry exclamation made the entire class turn towards her, then laugh at how Missy looked.

"**Ronald! What have you done to Missy's hair?!**"

Missy lifted her hands to her shorn locks, a mere two inches of hair left. Mercifully, her bangs had been left alone.

"**You're excused from the next class so the nurse can fix your hair, Missy. You'll be serving detention after school today for this, Ronald!**"

"**She deserved it, the freak.**"

She left the classroom in a hurry, before she took a detour to the bathroom, where she rinsed her perm out, the hairpins in her pocket as she dried her hair and took out a pair of professional shears to trim her hair so it was more acceptable. It was now more like a boy's, but she liked the new look. She swept up the stray hairs and turned her head back and forth. **A/N: Yep, it's a ducktail hairdo, just like Sasuke's.**

'_How do I look?'_ she asked silently.

**'**_**Much better than that puffball hairdo your foster mother forced you to have all these years, saying it was "cute",'**_ a deep voice from within her replied.

'_I agree, that's why I waited patiently for this prank, and I had these scissors to help making it neat. Mrs. Josie won't be happy about this, though.'_

**'**_**When have you cared? All she does is nag these days.'**_

'_That doesn't mean I shouldn't explain that someone cut my hair off during first period. It's the truth, after all.'_

**'**_**Yes, yet you could've dodged it by turning around at any time.'**_

'_But she doesn't know the Sennen Tauk's powers, nor do I _ever _plan on telling her, just like I keep _you_ a secret, Kitty.'_

**'I**_** know what's hunting you for **_**my**_** sake, but not for that ancient trinket's.'**_

'_I don't know the whole story, but I know just about anyone would try to steal it away just because it's ancient and "gold", not just because it's a magic necklace that allows me to see into the future. The dark spirit from the past wants to steal it for a purpose more evil than any of those petty thieves could ever imagine.'_

**'**_**So you have two enemies who cannot reach you, for now.'**_

'_I feel so loved.'_

After that she went to the nurse's office to wait out the rest of second period.

* * *

Missy got home and her foster mom was waiting for her. "**Oh dear…I'm so sorry! We can make smaller ringlets this time!**"

"**Mrs. Josie, I like it the way it is now. Please, can we leave out the ringlets this time?**"

The woman's face fell, but she nodded. "**If that's what you want, Missy. If I remember right, is this the first time anyone's successfully bullied you. What happened?**"

"**I fell asleep.**"

"**Don't you **_**always**_** fall asleep in class? I don't know how you get such high grades when you don't listen to any of the teachers.**"

"**At least they didn't shave my head. If they'd touched my bangs, I would've raised Cain.**"

Mrs. Josie laughed and patted her foster daughter's shoulder. "**Remember that you have to call your sister and mother this evening.**"

"**I remember, since it's only once a year.**"

"**I wish you could be with one family or another, but I've been given express instructions to keep you here.**"

"**I know, Mrs. Josie. I don't blame you for taking me away from my family. It's for my own safety.**"

"**Hurry, so you can finish your homework before you talk to them.**"

"**Okay.**"

* * *

With ease, Missy finished her homework and was relaxing when she looked at her mirror, a body-length one that she'd had for a long time. She stood up and concentrated on the energy of the Nibi. She smiled when the image of her mother appeared instead of her reflection.

"_Misao, my little girl. Your hair's been cut and straightened! What happened?!"_

"I just didn't want it looking so frizzy anymore, so I cut it."

"_Does Josie-san approve? She always likes to curl your hair."_

"I think the curls just don't fit with how I see myself anymore. I always wanted to have straight hair like you and Onee-chan. Since I wouldn't have ever had it with long hair, I cut it and insisted that it doesn't look good short and curly."

"_I can see you miss me greatly, Misao. Ever since the news of your father's death, I've missed you, too. If it wasn't so dangerous, I'd let you visit me, but you know that. Even this single communication is dangerous enough, since the mirror channels the Nibi's energy."_

"Yeah, I know. I love you so much, Oka-san."

"_I love you too, Misao. I'll see you next year."_

"Don't you have any advice for your fifteen-year-old daughter?"

"_As an Uchiha, you know how to act. If you find any boys, you'll have to make sure they're strong and smart, or else they'll bore you. Make sure to keep up your training and stay in that world. We don't need the enemy finding you or this portal. By far, this is the most dangerous world you could be in, considering who's hunting you."_

"What should I do if someone does track me here?"

"_I'll shatter the mirror. You know that's what's best for you. Even your father's world is better than this one."_

"But Oka-san—"

An explosion sounded on the other side of the mirror and her mother shouted, _"Shut off your chakra, hurry!"_

Missy did so, and an agonized look came over her face. "Oka-san…please be safe."

* * *

Missy's birth mother looked up blandly from her chair, where she had a book open in her lap. "Usually people are polite enough to knock."

Tobi stepped through the rubble and chuckled. "It's funny that you've lived in solitude for sixteen years, Uchiha Michiye, only to betray your Jinchuriki child at the opportune moment for me. The chakra signature was so faint that I would've missed it, had I not been heading in this direction."

"You've learned nothing, for the Jinchuriki isn't here."

"Yes, I know, but there's some way to get to it, and you know the exact method to do so."

He grabbed her around the neck, only for her to snap her fingers and the explosive tags on the mirror to ignite. The concussions shattered it, an extra-large shard flying towards them. Tobi turned insubstantial, but Michiye wasn't so lucky. It went straight through her heart, as she'd planned. She collapsed, and he turned solid again.

"You fool! I'll keep you alive so you'll have to tell me every last detail on how to fix the mirror!"

She smiled faintly. "Too late…"

She fell dead, and he grabbed her by the front of her dress, frustration quaking through his body.

"Curse this woman! I'll use any methods necessary to repair the only way to get at the Nibi!"

He snarled and began gathering the shards, including the one inside the dead woman.

"I won't let this setback block my efforts in getting the last Biju back here and extracting it."

* * *

After fretting for a moment, Missy activated her Sennen Tauk and directed the energies into the mirror. She smiled shakily as her sister appeared in the mirror. "Hey, Onee-chan."

The tall, black-haired, blue-eyed Egyptian woman smiled at her sister. _"Misao-chan. Is something wrong?"_

"Oka-san had to end the conversation early. I think he finally found her."

"_Oh Misao-chan…I'm so sorry."_

"I hope I can see her again, but I shouldn't keep my hopes up. At least I still have you."

"_Yes, that true, for now. I can sense the dark one coming closer with each day he searches. He's following the energies of the mirror, which connects this world with yours. Right now is the most vulnerable we can be. If I tell you to cut it off, do it right away, don't even say anything else."_

"It's not fair. First I lose the connection with my mom, and now you? Why do I have to stay safe?!"

"_You know why. My life doesn't matter, as long as you're safe, Misao-chan,"_ the woman stated with a soft smile, then asked, _"Your hair's gotten much shorter. Did someone finally succeed in pulling a prank on you?"_

"I let it. You know I've hated the curls ever since Josie-san first did that hairstyle. I thought the poodle hair didn't flatter me, so this kid cut my hair. I rinsed the perm out and trimmed it. This is the result."

"_I have to ask how things have been, but I can tell it's been as exciting as watching paint dry, am I right?"_

"Yeah! I don't want to be safe! I've trained as a ninja and in the art of Shadow Magic! I can help over there, whatever you're doing!"

"_Do you know how to play Duel Monsters?"_

"I haven't had those since I was a kid over here. Is that what you play seriously over there?"

"_Yes."_

"Oh man."

"_Ever since Otou-sama died over here and Onii-san and Ototo have disappeared, it's been lonely without you, Misao-chan. I know we both have to be strong, or else the dark one will track down this mirror and it will have to be broken."_

"I wish I could be with you, Onee-chan. It's getting harder, especially now that I don't have Oka-san's conversations to look forward to, and I'm sure yours will be even shorter, now that the enemy is even closer now. Are you still in Egypt?"

"_No, I'm in Japan right now, and the mirror is hidden in a room behind the Tablet of the Nameless Pharaoh."_

"I thought you said the dark one was in Japan! Why are you risking our connection by bringing the mirror there?!"

Her sister looked anxious. _"There's a chance with the tournament that's come to this city, Ototo will be drawn out and if he's defeated by the spirit of the Pharaoh, then he will see the error of his ways. You know why you had to be sent away, Otou-sama was murdered and when Onii-san and Ototo left, I was desperate to bring any semblance of family bonds back. You know him almost better than I do. You are around the same age, after all."_

"But once he went all psychotic with that dark personality, you sent me away, saying it wasn't safe, so I don't know how far off the deep end he's gone. What if he joins forces with the dark one in stealing the Sennen Items?"

"_I've seen how much he's tried to keep his dark side from resurfacing, so it would take much for him to go that far, but this tournament might actually do it. Misao-chan, I don't want you mixed up in this, so I want you to stay where you are, no matter what happens to me. I don't want you to put yourself in danger for my sake."_

"Fine, but if you die, there's nothing holding me back. I'll get there as soon as I'm able, and I'm kicking some butt with Kitty."

"_At least here you would be safe from the one who seeks the creature inside of you, for there's no longer a connection between this place and your mother's directly. They would have to find out how to use the mirror, and only you can, because you originate from—Who's there?!"_

"Onee-chan?"

"_Shut off your connection!"_

The second time in one day, Missy did as asked, her confusion palpable as she wondered aloud, "How could both the ones who seek me find the mirror on the very same day, within minutes of each other? I hope Onee-chan's all right."

* * *

Ishizu's blue eyes peered into the dark room, only for a dark chuckle to cause her to whirl around. "I asked who was there. Show yourself!"

"Very well, since you've shown some backbone."

Yami Bakura came out of the shadows, his Sennen Ring alight and its pointers quivering in the direction of the mirror. "That mirror carries a faint signature of the Sennen Tauk, so that must be the portal between this world and the world that the current wielder resides in."

He moved to go towards the mirror, but Ishizu blocked him. "As the mirror's guardian, I won't let you pass!"

His eyes turned to ice as he stated flatly, "Don't make me kill you, woman."

She didn't move, so he hit her with a shockwave of Shadow Magic, only for her to fly into the mirror, the blow causing it to shatter. She fell onto the floor amidst the glass shards, and the Ring Spirit cursed.

"Nothing ever seems to go my way. Fine, I'll come back later to repair the mirror and get rid of the body."

He left, and Ishizu's eyes fluttered open. She grimaced as she sat up, but smiled as she saw that the mirror had shattered. She stood with a little difficulty, blood dripping from the back of her head into her hair. She looked back at the mirror and murmured, "Be safe, Imoto. I hope to never see you again, but if I do, I pray it will be when you're no longer hunted."

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How does everyone think of Missy/Misao? Hate her so much you want her dead? *puppy eyes* Please?

Please review!


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Yu-Gi-Oh!

Here comes another chapter! *devilish grin*

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Missy paced agitatedly for several hours, but no word. She heaved a deep sigh, prepared for the worst. She then took her desk chair and smashed it against the mirror. It shattered, pieces flying everywhere. She punched the almost empty frame and winced as a piece got embedded in her finger.

"**Missy? What was that noise?!**" Mrs. Josie called, worried by the crash.

A sudden awareness came to her, and she blinked, confused. _'What's this? This feeling…it's exactly like when I activate the mirror…only inside of me…'_

'_**Why don't you try to go somewhere?'**_ the Nibi suggested.

'_Why not? Konohagakure no Sato!'_

In the time it took for her to gasp out loud, she was standing just inside the gates of her birthplace, where her mother's family came from. She gaped like a tourist, having never seen it in real life before.

'_It's so big… Kitty? Where'd you go?'_

'_**I suggest you don't talk to me unless you plan to travel or fight,'**_ the Nibi said in a rush, before its presence vanished again.

"Oh…I gotcha."

She began to walk further into the village, only to get apprehended by a pair of men which she recognized as Chunin. She stopped and one asked, "What business does a lone civilian girl have in Konohagakure no Sato?"

"I'm here to visit my kin, the Uchiha."

Sudden realization came to their eyes and they looked at her closer. "Ah! I should've realized your bloodline by the features. Forgive me, Uchiha-sama."

The honorific surprised Missy, since last she'd heard there'd been tension, just short of all-out war, between the rest of the village and her mother's family. It made her wonder if there'd been an understanding reached in the past year.

"Thank you, um…could one of you lead me to the house of Uchiha Fugaku? I haven't been here since I was very small, so it's unfamiliar to me."

"Of course. Right this way."

She was led to a house that was dimly familiar to her, as she knocked on the door. She waited for the door to open and was surprised when a hand rested on her shoulder. She turned her head and came face-to-face with someone she'd only seen in pictures.

"Sasuke?"

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

"I've only seen you in the pictures Oka-san had, but you've sure grown. Well, I have too since the last picture of you was shown to me, but I never made the connection…"

The fact was, besides the difference that she was a girl, olive-skinned, violet-eyed and had platinum blonde bangs, she was a mirror image of the teenage boy in front of her.

"On second thought, better question: Why do you have my face?"

She raised her hands in the American gesture for "who knows?" and wasn't surprised that he was confused, so she enunciated, "I dunno."

He wore clothes she associated with Japan before the western culture was introduced: a white gi parted to show his chest, black loose pants tucked into knee-high sandal-boots, a thick braided purple sash tied at the hip. The only thing out of place was a metal collar around his neck which glowed with chakra that she'd never seen on people other than prisoners.

"What do you mean, 'I dunno'? We're related, there isn't any other explanation that we could look so alike."

The door opened and she was met with another familiar face: Itachi's.

He frowned and Sasuke bowed. "Nii-san, I know I don't deserve to show my face after what happened, but I want to try to reconcile with all of you."

Itachi's face turned into a loving smile and he patted his brother's shoulder. "There's nothing to forgive, Sasuke. For me, I always loved you, but I'm not so certain about Otou-san and Oka-san." He then turned to Missy, his eyes curious. "Who are you, Miss? I don't recognize you save that you look remarkably like Ototo."

She bowed and greeted, "I'm Ishtar Misao. I just happened to pass by and recalled that my mom spoke often of you and your family." She plucked her platinum bangs. "Don't be fooled by the coloring, I'm actually half-Uchiha."

"That much was obvious, Ishtar-san. Could it be your father is from Kumogakure no Sato? The coloring is similar to theirs."

"No."

"Come in, and we'll talk more while Oka-san's out at the market."

They entered the house and Misao was about to step inside when Sasuke hissed, "Take your shoes and socks off. Have you no respect?"

She jerked and turned around, sitting down to remove her tennis shoes. "Sorry," she muttered, face red from her mistake. "I haven't been in a house like this in a long time."

When her shoes and socks were removed, she stepped inside. She thought about the coincidences that she'd encountered today. _'Could it be…that they're Oka-san's nephews, and their parents are my uncle and aunt? Is that why Sasuke and I look so much alike? Then why…why was Oka-san all alone if she had family? Did something happen that she never told me that estranged her from her whole life?'_ She stopped and a miserable look came to her features. _'She left all that…for me? She must've…really loved me.'_

"_Oka-san, why do you always show me pictures of these people?" Missy asked, confused after seeing a series of pictures of Sasuke and Itachi as kids._

_Michiye smiled softly. _"I want you to know them as I have. They come from my dear first cousin."

"_You have a cousin, Oka-san?"_

"Of course. Mikoto-chan is very dear to me, but I had to leave. So that makes these two boys your second cousins."

The memory popped into Misao's head. _'After that, she acted as if she'd never mentioned it at all. Why didn't she want me to know more about them? Is it because if they're connected to me…my identity might be exposed?'_

"Ishtar-san?" Itachi prompted, as he turned and beckoned her. "Is something wrong?"

She shook her head as she looked at the two with new eyes. _'They're precious now to me too…and since they're my second cousins, they're fair game. Sasuke's cute and all, but he's not nearly as handsome as Itachi.'_ This thought made her smirk and she almost giggled as she knelt in front of Itachi, Sasuke on her right.

"Ishtar-san, tell me, what's your mother's name? Perhaps she's a relative of ours."

"Uchiha Michiye."

Sasuke shook his head while Itachi considered.

'_Could Itachi remember, being six years older than Sasuke? I'm sure even with being six years old, he couldn't possibly—'_

"I remember a Michiye-san, a woman who looked quite a bit like Oka-san. I often heard arguments about some sort of scandal and shame a month after your birth, Sasuke, but then, she disappeared. I didn't understand as much then, so I don't really know anything save that she was heavily pregnant."

'_I don't doubt it, I know that Oka-san's conduct with Otou-sama wasn't right…I was a love-child, the fruit of an affair, since Otou-sama was married, yet by the time it was found out, his wife was dead from giving birth to Nii-chan. He accepted me into his family without question, even if I was a shame to him. He must've loved Oka-san greatly to treat me so well. I suppose the only reason Oka-san stuck around so long was because I was needed to be the Jinchuriki of the Nibi.'_

Sasuke gasped and exclaimed, "So she's our second cousin?! No wonder we look so much alike!"

Itachi nodded. "Yes. I figured that it had to be her mother who was the Uchiha in her, because of her family name, although it's not one I'm familiar with. Where's your father from, Misao-san?"

She opened her mouth to answer, when Mikoto appeared in the doorway of the living room. Her face was white as she stabbed a finger at Misao like she was a disease. "You. Get out of my house. NOW!"

Sasuke tensed and protested, "But Oka-san, she's—"

"You too! Get out and don't come back until you have that chakra inhibitor removed!"

Misao bowed and retreated, pulling on her shoes and running out the door, only for Mikoto to pull Sasuke out by the ear and throw him out, then his shoes after him. Sasuke got up and grumbled, "You'd think she'd treat me better, since I came back of my own volition. She treated _you_ like you were her sworn enemy, Misao-san. What did you do to her?"

The violet-eyed young woman shook her head. _'I'm sure she doesn't want to be reminded of that time, even if I'm family, and with how hush-hush my existence has been, could she have been…protecting me? She doesn't want to put me in danger by putting me in disassociation with her family? Could it be that she cares after all, and was just acting?'_

"Whatever it was, it was enough to get you evicted. Come on, let's get going."

'_I shouldn't keep getting surprised like this. I have to start using my Sennen Tauk again.'_

So she was expecting it when he came to a lake with a small pier going out to the center. She raised her eyebrows when he gestured to it.

'_He wants me to use a fire jutsu. I think I remember the one Oka-san told me was a sign of adulthood within the family. Okay, here goes.'_

She went through the signs and executed it the way she'd learned. "Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!"

Sasuke jumped back from the heat of the jutsu, covering his eyes. "The heat…"

She finished and didn't even feel the drop of chakra from using such a large jutsu. "I'd have to say I was surprised when I learned that all Uchiha have an aptitude for fire jutsu, but I was told I'm a natural."

"Just with mastering this jutsu, you should be accepted into the clan, yet you're an outcast. Are you sure you didn't do anything to Oka-san?"

She nodded. "I've done nothing to her, Sasuke. I'm just as confused as you are. I was surprised that we're related—"

"Sasuke! Hey Sasuke!"

Sasuke sighed and turned to where two teenagers his age were waving at him. "Do you want to meet my teammates?"

"Sure. It's not like I have anything else to do." _'From my vision, their names are Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto, and they're very friendly, especially once they learn I'm important to Sasuke.'_

Naruto ran over and did a double take. "Who's the chick, Sasuke? She looks a lot like you."

Sasuke placed a hand on Misao's shoulder. "This is Misao-san, a close relation of mine. She's visiting Konohagakure no Sato for the time being."

Sakura smiled. "She sure has the Uchiha features, yet not. Is she a ninja?"

"Yes, I am," Misao replied, bowing to the pair. "It's nice to meet you."

Sakura bowed back. "I'm Haruno Sakura."

Naruto grinned and nodded his head. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"

"I'm glad to meet the teammates of my close relative. We were just having a tour of the surrounding area, since this is the first time I've been in Konohagakure no Sato in a long time."

"Oh really?!" Sakura exclaimed, ecstatic as she grabbed Misao's hand. "Come with me, then! I'll show you some of the best places! I'll even ask Ino to come along!"

'_She sure latched onto me fast. I wonder if she's Sasuke's girlfriend and wants to ask me about things he likes. If so…this won't be a pleasant outing.'_

Naruto sighed. "I wanted it to be just us four, but now Sakura-chan's bringing Ino along… Do you wanna go train, Sasuke?"

"I can't, remember?"

"Sorry! It's just that you only got that today and it just looks like a new part of your outfit!"

"Why would I wear a chakra inhibitor as an accessory?"

"This is the first time I've seen someone with one on! Do you think it was the only way to get you from doing anything rash once you came back here?"

"You heard Tsunade-sama: for five years, I'll wear this and live a civilian life. Considering I just got booted out of my own house, I might have to room with someone just to get off the street."

"What about your relative? Is she staying at your parents' house?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Beats me."

"You don't know why she's not going to stay at your parents' house? She's family, isn't she?"

"Oka-san kicked her out before me, without so much a word as to the reason. And I was trying to figure out a mystery with Nii-san when she did. Now I'll have to wait until he comes to me. Geez, I only got to talk to him for ten minutes before I was evicted."

"You told me that the first person you were going to talk to once you left Tsunade-obaa-chan's office was Itachi. I'm sure you didn't even get a chip off the iceberg in ten minutes."

"Yeah. I didn't think that Oka-san and Otou-san were that angry with me when I went rogue."

"You _did_ just up and join Konoha's top enemy, you know. You almost killed me that time!"

"I know you've forgiven me for that, so I've forgiven myself. I just have to earn the forgiveness of the village, which will take a lot longer, because they're not idiots."

"I've sure missed you, Sasuke!"

Misao smiled at the friendship that her cousin had with his teammate. She'd always wanted such friendship, but never could forge such bonds. She let Sakura rattle on about this and that, considering she wasn't that type of girl. She didn't like shopping or trying on clothes, shoes or accessories, talking about boys, or any such things. _'I've sure become a tomboy because of my lack of friends. I don't think I've ever even had someone who liked me besides Oka-san, my half-siblings and Josie-san before this. I can tell that I'll become friends with Sasuke and his teammates for sure, and if I can spend time with Itachi, I want to at least become friends. He's so gorgeous I can't think of what I could talk to him about, considering we're from two different worlds. I mean, I didn't even know it was proper to bow, take off your shoes before going into someone's house, or stuff like that. Oka-san taught me how, but I'd never put them in action, because people laughed at me during elementary school.'_

"Misao-san? Are you okay?" Sakura asked.

Misao blinked and found that they'd walked into what looked like the shopping district of the village. "I'm sorry, Sakura-san, I didn't mean to get lost in thought."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Oh, about home a little bit."

"Where do you live?"

"Nowhere right now. I thought I'd be living with Sasuke's family for the time I was visiting, but I was wrong. I never thought I'd be given such a cold welcome."

"Well, you can stay with me if you want, since I'm sure Sasuke-kun's arranged to room with Naruto."

"Why do you call Naruto-san 'Naruto' while you call Sasuke 'Sasuke-kun'? Don't you think it should be the other way around?"

Sakura blushed. "I could never do that! Sasuke-kun wouldn't like that I just called him by his given name alone! And Naruto, he doesn't care if I call him that, I've never called him anything different."

"Even when you first met?"

"Yeah."

"Huh. I suppose it's just how kids are around here."

"No, it's just Naruto. Everyone calls him by just his first name."

"Not Hinata!" Naruto called.

"Yeah, yeah, but Hinata's always treated you differently!"

"Yeah, whatever!"

Misao nodded and held her chin in thought. "This is something to think about." _'So if I like Itachi, I should call him "Itachi-kun" because it gives him extra respect?'_

"Do you have someone you like, Misao-san?"

Misao didn't even notice the slight redness in her cheeks as she shook her head.

"I think you do, you've just never talked about it to another person before. Is he really cute?"

"More than cute, steaming hot."

"Is he older or younger?"

"I'm not playing twenty questions with you about the identity of the one I like."

"I promise I won't tell anyone if I guess!"

"Fine, but don't let the two boys overhear."

"Now answer my second question."

"He's older."

"So you like older guys?"

"He's the first I've liked."

"You've never admired a hot guy before?"

"Nope."

"You're weird."

"More like socially stunted."

"Okay, to my next question: is he popular amongst the ladies?"

"Being such a looker, you would think he was, but he's a lone wolf."

"A lone wolf, older guy, steaming hot…not enough clues yet, even though I _think_ I've narrowed it down a little, except for one thing: How old are you?"

"I'll be sixteen August twenty-seventh."

"Wow, how much older is this guy than you?! You're not even legal yet!"

"I'm not saying."

"Okay… Is he tall, or short?"

"Tall."

"Does he have any siblings?"

"Yes."

"How many?"

"Not saying."

"Is he the oldest, or the youngest?"

"Oldest."

"Is he a civilian, or a ninja?"

"Ninja."

They were interrupted by arriving at a shop called "Yamanaka Flowers" and Sakura entered, still pulling Misao along. "Ino! Would you come with us shopping? We have a new friend that's unfamiliar with the area!"

Ino came from the back of the store, even with a purse. "I'm ready! Who's this new shopping partner we've acquired?"

"This is Misao-san!"

Ino looked properly horrified. "What on earth is she wearing?! We're fixing this right now!"

So now Misao was not only dragged by Sakura, but Ino too.

"So, Sakura tells me that you've come to like someone here. What are the details so far?"

"Steaming hot, older than her, he's a lone wolf, he's taller than her, he has at least one sibling, he's the oldest in his family, and he's a ninja," Sakura supplied as she started choosing articles of clothing for Misao to try on.

By this time, Sasuke and Naruto had gone off on their own so they wouldn't be bored to death by the girls' shopping. Misao had wanted to go with them, but didn't want to offend the girls.

"If he's a ninja, is he from a ninja clan or civilian born?"

Misao, who was in the middle of taking off her clothes, answered, "He's in a clan."

"Which one?"

"I'm not answering that."

"Hmmm…this is difficult, since there are several clans in Konohagakure no Sato, and you won't say which one."

It took several times of trying out different outfits for a few to be decided on, then they went to Ichiraku Ramen for lunch. When the ramen was served, Misao asked, "Can I have a fork and spoon?"

Ayame raised her eyebrows and demanded, "A fork and spoon? You use chopsticks to eat the noodles and drink the remainder of the broth from the bowl, stranger! _Everyone_ knows that!"

Misao shook her head. _'There I go again. Stupid American habits.'_ "I didn't know that, sorry."

She took out a pair of chopsticks and broke them in half, before beginning to eat her ramen.

Sakura whispered, "It's rude to blow on your ramen before eating it. Slurp to cool off the noodles."

'_I've been taught the opposite.'_ "Sorry!"

"It's okay."

Ino then asked, "Is this guy the heir to the clan?"

"I dunno," Misao answered truthfully.

"Really? You don't?"

"Yeah. I haven't found out, and I don't really care about his standing in the hierarchy of the clan. I'm not one of those social climbers."

"Is his hair long?"

"Yes."

"So that rules out the Aburame and the Inuzuka Clans… Is his skin pale?"

"Yes."

"So that rules out the Akimichi and Nara… Is he a genius?"

"Yes."

"Ruling out the Yamanaka…"

Sakura suddenly gasped. "You said it was an older _man_! You like Sasuke-kun's _older brother_!"

Misao looked away. "You swore not to tell anyone about it."

The two girls nodded in unison. Ino claimed, "I'll do that too, since I'd hate for his fan club to learn about this and slaughter you."

Misao began to sweat profusely and trembled. "H-he has a fan club? I thought only celebrities had fan clubs…"

"So we've found Misao-san's weakness," Sakura cooed, a sympathetic look on her face.

* * *

Misao headed towards Sakura's apartment with said young woman at the end of the day. She wore a knee-length pastel pink dress with spaghetti straps that showed off her curves far more than her old outfit (Ino had burned it, even her bra and underwear) and a pair of heeled white sandals. She felt very uncomfortable without having her body covered, but she knew she'd stood out with her poor-person clothes, so she'd accepted that she needed to show herself off a little if she wanted to get Itachi's attention.

Sakura unlocked the door and Misao was about to enter when a hand rested on the small of her back.

"Meet me in front of this building," Itachi's voice breathed into her ear. "I have a few things to talk to you about."

Before Sakura could even sense him, he was gone, and Misao turned away from the door. "Sakura-san, I have something to take care of. I'll be back before dark, hopefully. Don't wait up."

"Are you sure? If I don't wait up, then I won't be able to unlock the door for you."

"If you insist, but if it's morning by the time I get back, then know that nothing happened."

"What do you—"

Misao sprinted off, embarrassed by what she said. _'Stupid uncensored American tongue! I really should think before I open my mouth!'_

She reached the outside of the building, only to have the same hand return to the small of her back. She felt them Body Flicker to a forest clearing that didn't even have a view of the Hokage Monument, which made her wonder why they needed to be so secluded. She turned around to see he was staring at her. She controlled the urge to cover herself and asked, "What did you want to talk about, Itachi-kun?"

"I've been watching you and overheard your conversation with Yamanaka and Haruno. I'm flattered you're attracted to me, but there are several issues we must bring up before anything else is said."

She pressed her lips together in a disappointed line. _'I didn't think he'd actually point out the flaws any relationship of ours would have.'_

"First, you're too young until this August for me to even make a move, since I'm twenty-two."

She nodded, silent as she waited for him to speak again.

"Second, your mother has been banished from the clan, so you too have the shamed outcast status, which would be unsuitable for me, being the eldest child of the head of the clan."

'_Ouch, I didn't think of that, but then again, I don't care about status when it comes to a relationship, but it's important here, it seems.'_

"Third, you're only half-blood, and the bastard child from a union that wasn't approved of by the Elder Council."

'_That sounds even worse coming from him. He sure knows how to cut my chances into tiny pieces.'_

"Fourth, my parents have told me expressly not to have any contact with you, for you are cursed and would only bring unhappiness to me. I've researched this deeply and found a single document that was charred around the edges that gives me the reason why: you're the hidden Jinchuriki of the stolen Biju from Kumo, the Nibi."

'_He sure does his homework before taking action. Oka-san told me there were no records of me becoming the Jinchuriki of the Nibi, and for it to be stolen… I must be sought after not only by one enemy, but Kumogakure no Sato, who wants it back.'_

"Fifth, if we were to pursue this relationship, it would be exposed that you were connected with the Uchiha Clan, and once your status as the Nibi Jinchuriki was found out, not only would you be in danger, but the whole clan. People would hate you for bringing war to Konoha, and the overall enmity and fear that everyone feels for one who's a Jinchuriki."

'_It gets worse and worse. He sure can project the future, even better than me. He understands how people react to any Jinchuriki, so now I know why everyone who didn't really know me shunned or bullied me. It wasn't my fault, but I'm not blaming Kitty, either. It didn't choose to be sealed inside me, and I didn't choose to be its container. Come on, what else can you bring up that makes us unsuitable for each other?'_

"Sixth, if I were to ever express any feelings for you, all these things would be in my way, plus everyone would treat me the same or worse than you if this was brought to light. They could even react with extreme violence. Although it's very different now, our local Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Naruto, was persecuted by the villagers, even though he didn't know why. They used such violence against him, the Sandaime Hokage enacted a strict law that no one could approach him unless it wasn't to harm. Since there's no law with you, I'm sure you'd take even worse treatment. If I form feelings for you, it would kill me piece by piece to see you that way."

'_Now he brings feelings into it. It would kill me to see you that way, considering it makes me hurt inside just to think about it.'_

"Besides all this, I don't care what everyone else thinks, I never have. I told you all these things, since I'm sure some of them you were unaware of, and I didn't want you to be confused by the behavior of people around us. I wanted to give you prior warnings so you would be able to protect yourself both physically and mentally. Now, I have a question for you."

She looked into his eyes and nodded, ready for him to lay it out on her.

"Despite all that we'll go through, would you like to go out with me?"

Her eyes lit up like a pair of stars and she squealed, throwing her arms around him. "Yes, I would!"

He chuckled and put his arms around her, petting the back of her head. "We'll have to do it secretly, so we can be safe. Now we're both aware that we like each other…"

He dipped his head down and their lips met. She'd never kissed anyone before, so she let him guide her through the motions. He turned her around so her back was against a tree, so he was over her, her arms around his neck. He was a great kisser, which made her toes tingle. He held her close to him and even after the kiss ended, he pressed his cheek against hers, not letting her go.

'_I didn't think I was this starved for affection, or that he was, either. He kissed me like it would be our last one…and I loved it. I think this one's a keeper, for sure, unless there's a guy who makes more of a spark than this.'_

* * *

He held her close all night, before he dropped her off in front of the door of Sakura's apartment before disappearing. She knocked on the door, and Sakura opened it with a smirk.

"So…_nothing _happened, right?"

"He kissed me and held me close, that's it."

"You're lucky, Uchiha Itachi's a hard one to snag. He's never expressed affection towards anyone besides Sasuke-kun, and that's only brotherly love. I've heard he even stays neutral towards his parents."

"I know. Itachi-kun's not going to be sorry that he chose me."

"We'd better get some sleep, since I'm sure you're not used to all-nighters."

Misao fell asleep dreaming of that amazing kiss.

* * *

Their first date consisted of dancing at a club, then watching the stars atop the Hokage Monument. Their second, a picnic and cliff diving. Their third, a night on the town (the commercial town a few miles from Konoha, of course) and playing tag through a field of flowers.

'_I've never been so happy in my life. I'm sure Kitty would say that it won't last, because of who hunts me. He has a group who specializes in hunting Biju, so if I were caught by one or even two of them, I'd have to call Kitty out. I'm surprised none of them have appeared hunting Naruto-san. It's been three months, after all. Are they biding their time? Then again, they don't know who I am or what I look like, save Oka-san was an outcast Uchiha.'_

A knock came to her door and she finished putting her hair up, which had grown a little. She wore a white dress with capped sleeves and a square collar, along with a pair of jeweled black sandals. She took a breath and opened the door, only to smile.

Itachi stood there, all dressed up in a suit, a birthday cake in his hands. He smiled warmly and announced, "Happy Birthday, Misao."

She gestured for him to come in and blew out the candles after making a wish. "This is the best thing you could've ever done for me on my birthday."

"No, this is."

He got down on one knee and took her hands. "Ishtar Misao, would you accept this ring as a promise to be mine in the future?"

He opened a box and an engraved ring was exposed. She nodded and he slid the ring on her index finger. He kissed her and petted her head. "Now, once you're old enough, we can get married and be together until death do us part."

A sudden shaking went through the floor and both of them ran to the window. Misao fed chakra to her eyes and spotted something that made her stomach sink in dread. _'They're here…'_

"They're the same enemies that have been hunting Naruto for a good few months now. They call themselves the 'Akatsuki'," Itachi informed her. "You have to leave, before they find out you're here, Misao."

"But Itachi-kun—"

"Go! I have to protect Sasuke or else he'll be helpless against even _one_ enemy! GO!"

She nodded, her eyes full of pain as she began to concentrate on her home. He took her hand and looked deep in her eyes.

"Just promise me one thing: come back soon."

She smiled. "Of course, Itachi-kun. I'll always come back. And you have to promise something too."

"What's that?"

"Don't die."

He smirked. "If I don't keep that, I give you permission to drag me back from the afterlife to kick my butt."

She grinned brightly as she disappeared, only to find herself in her room again. She sighed and murmured, "I'm back, but not for long. This place…it isn't for me anymore. I know that now. So here I go." She concentrated on her Sennen Tauk. _'Domino City!'_

* * *

This is the longest chapter I've ever posted...I'm sure the next chapter will be worse! Did you scream in agony over the pairing I've set up? If so, I've been doing my job right!

Please review!


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Yu-Gi-Oh!

This chapter is longer than _any_ I've ever posted, over eleven thousand words! O_O That's eleven pages! Enjoy the terribleness!

* * *

Misao appeared amidst a crowd of people. She began to walk, instantly masking the energies of her Sennen Item. _'I can't have the dark one tracking me down this early.' _She then searched inside herself. _'Hey Kitty, the coast is clear.'_

**'**_**I thought I sensed you traveling. I can help you by masking the Sennen Tauk's energies. It's not like you'll need me much in this world, unless the dark one finds you.'**_

'_Sure, any way to keep my energy up. I have to keep alert, just in case I run into any enemies, since I'm sure the Battle City Tournament has started by now. I forget who's hosting it…Kiba…no that's the Inuzuka Clan heir… What was his name…?'_

**'**_**If I were you, I'd watch where you're going.'**_

'_Why—'_ "Umph!" She tumbled backwards, unable to catch herself because of her surprise.

**'**_**That's why. You just ran into someone.'**_

She rubbed her backside as she cried, "I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!"

"It's all right, Miss. I too was inattentive. Let me help you."

She absently took the offered hand and got up, scratching behind her head. "I'm sorry again, is there anything…I can…"

Her eyes came to rest on who'd just helped her up, and she turned several shades paler. _'I'm _dead_. I just know it!'_ She went into deep bow, her forehead against the pavement. "My humblest apologies for bumping into you, my pharaoh! I meant no offense! Do whatever you want with this humble servant!"

"Ah…huh? You called me 'pharaoh'?"

"Yes! You're the spirit of the Sennen Puzzle, the ancient pharaoh that my clan of tomb keepers has been waiting to be reborn for three thousand years! I don't deserve to even look at you because of such a transgression I've committed against you! Please, execute punishment!"

"Please, don't grovel to me. You're making a scene, Miss. Please get up."

She got up with great reluctance and smiled shakily. "I had to give proper obeisance to you, my pharaoh, but if it embarrasses you, I won't do it again." _'If he says yes, I'll be forever thankful, because that was embarrassing to me, too.'_

"It does," the spirit of the Sennen Puzzle admitted, face slightly flushed. "You said you were from a clan of tomb keepers? Would you be related to Ishtar Ishizu?"

Misao's eyes widened. "Onee-chan? You mean she's still alive?"

"Yes, of course. Was she in trouble?"

"Three months ago, her life was in danger, but if you talked to her recently, the dark one didn't kill her. Thank goodness."

"You look quite unlike your older sister, Miss."

"Yeah, I am, because I'm only half-Egyptian. I haven't been able to visit the past several years, so I don't know what's been going on with the family. I've been with my mom's family these past three months, but I decided to come here to seek out my sister." She realized something and blushed. "Where are my manners? I'm Ishtar Misao, my pharaoh. Do you have a name you go by?"

"Yes. I've go by the name Mutou Yugi, because most people don't know the difference between myself and the boy who's body I share. Are you part of the Battle City Tournament too?"

She shook her head. "I don't know how to play Duel Monsters very well, so I'd never be able to go up against these top-notch duelists. Perhaps if I stick with you, I'd be able to find my sister sooner or later. May I…tag along?"

"I have someone who's after my life, so I don't know how safe you would be."

"You don't have to worry about me, Yugi-san! I just happen to be the wielder of the Sennen Tauk!"

His eyes widened. "You have a Sennen Item?"

"Yeah, see?" She pointed to the Item around her neck. "I can see into the future with it."

"So you foresaw that you'd meet me here?"

"Ah…no. I was distracted, so I didn't know that this fated meeting was happening today. I'm sorry."

"Let's get going, then. I don't want to be caught by surprise by any other Ghouls."

The word was so familiar to her, she automatically answered, "At it again? My brother's sure a pain in the neck."

"Brother? You mean Marik?"

"Yeah, he's my brother. If we were in the same crowd, I'd be able to point him out, although I'm sure he hardly remembers me, even if we played together as kids."

"You're saddened by him taking a dark path?"

"Of course I am. I wouldn't be his sister if I wasn't. Besides Onii-san and Onee-chan, he's the only family I have left…"

"Are you all right?"

She smiled and nodded. "I will be. I've foreseen that you will come across a duel very soon."

* * *

As he dueled Pandora, Misao watched from the shadows, foreseeing that it would be the pharaoh's victory. When an udjat appeared on Pandora's forehead, she felt the energies of the Sennen Rod being used. _'Marik…how far you've fallen to kill the one you're supposed to help! I have to stop you by any means necessary!'_

She began to walk towards them, commenting, "Long time no see, Onii-chan."

Pandora's eyes narrowed. "_Who are you?! Show your face right now!_"

She stepped into the light and raised her head. "Recognize this face, Marik?"

"_You! What are you doing here?! You disappeared without a trace years ago!_"

"I'm back now, and I'm ashamed to see you're seeking to end the pharaoh's life. Even _I_ wouldn't do that!"

"_Shut up! You're not even a tomb keeper, you bastard girl!_"

"Oh, so now you call me that? What happened to 'Imoto'?" she asked, eyes narrowing threateningly. "I wouldn't talk to your sister like that if I were you, Ishtar Marik! When I see you next, I'll smack your face for insulting me!"

Yami blinked at how easily Misao was handling Marik, even if he'd been so cool and collected when he'd begun threatening him once Pandora had lost the duel. They were bickering like true siblings, so from his point of view, Marik was nothing but a runaway brother that the sister was scolding, Sennen Rod aside.

"_Grrrrr, enough! You won't even get to meet me in person! The next Ghoul I send to duel Yugi, I'll order him to kill you!_"

At that, Pandora fell over, Misao frowning as she crossed her arms. "Kill me, huh? I've become stronger than you think, Marik. You won't kill me so easily." She then turned to Yami. "We should get out of here, I'm sure we'll have to be on the lookout for this next Ghoul."

* * *

When they exited the underground dueling arena, Yami observed, "You don't seem worried, Misao-san. Your own brother is capable of murder, I've seen it myself."

"I know he is, but if he keeps on being rebellious, he'll only destroy himself. He has the responsibility as a tomb keeper to help you, and you've seen how he is. He needs a good scolding to calm him down, or else he'll keep acting like a child."

"This 'rebellious child' has threatened to kill you, or weren't you listening?"

"I might not look it, but I'm quite adept at martial arts, compliments of the other half of my heritage."

"I noticed that you don't move like a normal person. I can't even hear your footsteps."

**'**_**I like this guy, Misao. He's not afraid to point things out.'**_

'_Yeah. It doesn't matter if I'm exposed as a ninja here, it's no longer connected to the other worlds. I sure hope Itachi-kun's okay.'_

**'**_**Don't worry about him, worry about yourself. The "dark one" is somewhere around here, searching for the Sennen Items. If you're not careful, he'll find you.'**_

Unknown to her, when she thought of Itachi, she raised her left hand to her lips and kissed the ring. Yami raised his eyebrows and asked, "Misao-san, what does that ring stand for?"

Misao looked down at her hand and smiled softly. "A promise."

"For what?"

"Forever."

His eyebrows knitted together in confusion, but she didn't reveal anything further. They reached a walkway by a canal, and a malignant presence alerted her and she ducked. The person flew over Misao's head, skidded, and came back for another pass, his hands around her neck before she knew it. She grasped her assailant's wrists and noticed the udjat on his forehead.

"Good to see you so soon, Marik. So you didn't waste time getting your Ghoul's hands around my neck."

"_I won't even spare you the suffering by snapping your neck. I'm going to squeeze the life out of your body, one second at a time, until you breathe your last breath._"

"Misao-san!" Yami exclaimed.

Misao grinned. "It takes three minutes to choke a person to death, too long."

With a pop, she vanished, only to nail Strings in the back of the head with a flying kick and had him pinned beneath her the next second. She stated, "In my line of work, you take more than ten seconds to do _anything_, you're dead."

"_What did you do?! I had you trapped!_"

"If we meet again, I'll explain. But for now, leave me alone. You need this Ghoul to duel the pharaoh, right? If I destroy it, there's a chance lost. You can deal with me later, I'll be here."

She leapt off Strings and landed on the sidelines.

"_Stupid girl, you'll meet your death soon enough!_"

* * *

Yami dueled Marik and once the Sky Dragon of Osiris was summoned, there didn't seem to be a way to win the duel. As Misao used the Sennen Tauk to see the future, two other people arrived on the scene.

"Look at you, hunched over like some dog who's just waiting to beat again! Get up, or you're no rival of mine!"

Misao saw a favorable end of the duel and focused on the present, only to notice who was next to her. _'Oh, it's that guy. The one who's running the tournament! What's-his-bucket!'_

**'**_**I'm sure he'd **_**love**_** to hear you call him that. If I recall correctly, his family name is some sort of sea creature.'**_

'_Thanks for the hint. Iruka (dolphin), no that's Naruto-san's teacher…Same (shark)…no…Uni (sea urchin)…that's not it either… Hitode (starfish)…? Not likely…'_

As she contemplated, Yami defeated Marik and claimed the Egyptian God Card as his own. He then was told that his friends were in danger of being put under mind control, only to be stopped.

"Yugi, I challenge you to a duel for your Egyptian God Card!"

"There are things more important than this tournament, Kaiba!"

'_Kaiba (seahorse)? Oh yeah! Kaiba Seto and his little brother, Kaiba Mokuba!'_

**'**_**Took you long enough.'**_

"My friends are in danger, so I can't duel you now!"

Yami ran off, and Seto stated, "Running from a duel is against tournament rules. If it was anyone but Yugi, they would be disqualified."

"What're you going to do, Nii-sama?" Mokuba asked.

"We'll follow. Let's go, Mokuba."

'_I'd better go too, so I can catch up with Yugi-san.'_

She sprinted past the Kaiba brothers in a fashion that had Mokuba commenting, "Check it out, Nii-sama. That girl can sure run."

"She was the one watching Yugi's duel. We'd better keep an eye on her. She could be an enemy in disguise."

'_Enemy in disguise? Yeah, once you meet Marik, I'll be under intense scrutiny because I look more like him than even Onee-chan.'_

She found Yami impatiently waiting as pair of Ghouls tried to decide who would duel him first.

'_A delaying tactic if I ever saw one.'_

**'**_**Those scum. Let me at 'em.'**_

'_I doubt that would help much.'_

**'**_**It would make **_**me**_** feel better.'**_

But, only moments after, Seto joined in and they had a very short double duel. He smashed them with the God of Obelisk and even Misao knew it was too easy as they walked on (Mokuba was fetching a helicopter).

"Who's this girl that you've picked up? She's not one of your usual 'friends'."

"This is Ishtar Misao."

She bowed her head to him in greeting. "I already know who you are, Kaiba Seto."

"Then you should know about my reputation, Ishtar-san."

"You're…the best at…bubblegum blowing?"

Yami actually started choking, he was so surprised. He then held a hand over his mouth as Seto looked furious.

"Are you trying to be funny?"

'_What'd I say?!'_

**'**_**For someone so smart, you do have your stupid moments.'**_

"No, I wasn't. I'm new to this place, so I don't know anything about you, save you're the one who's running this tournament."

Yami actually started laughing, he was so amazed that there was actually someone who didn't know about the Japan National Champion of Duel Monsters and CEO of Kaiba Corporation, and she was Ishizu and Marik's younger sister. Seto's face was flushed with rage as he stepped closer to her, trying to intimidate her, but she seemed unaffected.

"I'm not just some rich kid who's decided throw a tournament, Ishtar. I'm Kaiba Seto, CEO of Kaiba Corporation and Japan's National Champion of Duel Monsters."

'_Is that supposed to be impressive?'_

**'**_**Misao, Misao…'**_

'_What did I say this time?!'_

**'**_**What is this tournament about? What is all the rage all over this world?'**_

'_Oh…I see why I should be impressed, even though titles mean nothing to me.'_

**'**_**I see this ending **_**very**_** badly…'**_

"Oh, I see… I'm sure you're very good, but I'm sure Yugi-san is better than you, Seto-san."

There was silence for a full minute before Seto leaped at her, and she dodged with a squeak, not sure what she did this time. Yami watched with a half-amused, half-horrified expression, not sure what to do in this situation. They ran around in circles, usually around Yami.

"When I get my hands on you—"

"Whatever I said that offended you, it was unintentional!"

"Those words couldn't have come out of your mouth unless you meant them! Now come here!"

"Kaiba, don't you think we should keep going—"

"Shut up, Yugi!"

* * *

Umbra and Lumis watched the scene with confusion from atop a building.

"What do you think that girl said that made Kaiba go off like a grenade?"

"Beats me."

"Do you think we should interrupt them?"

"We just need to stall them while Marik-sama is dealing with Yugi's friends and if this works just as well…"

"I see your point."

* * *

Seto lunged for Misao and she flipped over his head, before hiding behind Yami. "My pharaoh, please save me from Seto-san! I know not what I've done to him to incite such fury!"

"Do you really need my help, Misao-san?"

"You have to be the voice of reason! I cannot reach him!"

"You just want me to be your human meat shield if this goes bad."

"That too!"

Yami rolled his eyes and raised his hands to catch Seto, who tried to reach around him to get at Misao. "Kaiba, is this really necessary? You're acting like a child."

"If she didn't run away, I wouldn't have to chase her!"

"She doesn't know what she said that made you angry! Why don't you explain before attacking her?"

The infuriated young man took some deep breaths before growling through his teeth, "Not only did you say I can't be better than Yugi, you called me by my _given name_. No one but Mokuba can do that."

Yami nodded in prompt.

"When you said I'm not better than Yugi, who's been my rival for two-and-a-half years—"

Misao's eyes widened. _'Oh, so _that's_ why he flipped his lid. No wonder.'_

**'**_**Your ignorance of the circumstances of this world plus your American manners has caused you to step on two land mines at the same time. You'd better have a sincere apology or he'll hate you forever.'**_

'_Why is this important?'_

**'**_**He's an important ally to the pharaoh, plus, if you look close enough, who does he resemble?'**_

'_AH! That's right! High Priest Set!'_

**'**_**You see why it's important not to make him hate you.'**_

'_Why me…?'_

**'**_**You don't curb your tongue and don't remember Japanese mannerisms until it's too late. Think before anything leaves your mouth, or else you'll get in even more trouble in the future.'**_

'_I'll try my best, but no promises.'_

"I'm so sorry for not understanding, Kaiba-san!" Misao cried, bending at the waist in a perfect ninety-degree bow. "Please forgive me!"

This surprised both duelists, who didn't expect Misao to know how to do a sincere apology Japanese style. Seto recovered from his shock and crossed his arms, smirking at how she'd so easily humbled herself once she understood what she'd done. Not many outside his underlings bowed like this, even in apology. Most of the time it was a head bow or a forty-five degree bow, and they always met his eyes. This girl knew how to respect an important person, save she only used "san" instead of "sama". When he thought about her calling him "Kaiba-sama", he knew how to humiliate her to the point where she'd cry.

"For three months after the tournament, you'll have to be my personal maid at my mansion. After that, you'll have my forgiveness."

"Kaiba that isn't fair and you know it!" Yami protested.

Misao considered and knew it didn't matter what she did, she needed to be in his good graces. "I accept your terms, Kaiba-san."

"Good. Once we get to the finals, I'll draw up a contract with you."

They began walking again, only to get ambushed by Lumis, who put a special clamp on Seto's duel disk. They set up a duel on top of a building, bombs set to explode when their lifepoints reached zero placed on the corner of each pane of glass they stood on.

'_Death match after death match… What else does Marik have in store for them?'_

She used her Sennen Tauk and saw a dark set of duels, but victory for Yami at the end. She also saw the identity of the dark one, who also lived through a host just like the pharaoh.

'_I'll have to be extra-careful or he'll be onto me very quick. I don't want to leave so soon.'_

* * *

Once Umbra and Lumis were defeated, they all boarded Seto's helicopter and headed towards Domino Pier. After a short ride, Yami was forced to duel his best friend Jonouchi and to make sure no one interfered, Anzu held a capsule of poison between her teeth.

'_I hate being an observer when things like this happen, but I know that this is necessary to get Jonouchi back.'_

**'**_**Being able to see into the future sometimes makes you passive, when we could've stopped the duel and broken Marik's control on both of Yugi's friends. You like to let things flow naturally, save when you **_**have**_** to take action to drive the future towards the favorable one. Perhaps you should give up the Sennen Tauk after all this is over.'**_

'_What?! No way! We wouldn't be able to come back here if I did!'_

**'**_**Perhaps it's for the better. You are pursuing a relationship with Itachi.'**_

'_Itachi…'_ She closed her eyes and kissed her ring. _'I wonder what he's doing now…'_

**'**_**You'll never know if you stay here for more than necessary.'**_

'_You've forgotten one very important thing.'_

**'**_**What?'**_

'_My family lives here. How will I be able to visit them if I give up the Sennen Tauk?'_

**'**_**That **_**is**_** the reason why you came here in the first place. But **_**don't**_** get yourself twisted up with Kaiba Seto. Keep Itachi in your mind whenever you're around him.'**_

'_Why?! It's not like I _like_ him or anything! He's an arrogant jerk!'_

The Nibi sighed. _**'Humans are so unaware of their own feelings, even you.'**_

It went back to sleep and Misao frowned mentally. _'I _won't_ fall for that no-good pretty boy. He's making me be his personal maid for three months! What kind of guy would do that?!'_

She focused and noticed everything had gone okay, and she was introduced to Hiroto Honda, Shizuka Kawai, Otogi Ryuji and Mai Kujaku. Yugi, Jonouchi and Shizuka were soaked through, but were smiling. Through the visions from her Sennen Tauk, Misao knew what had happened and it was now time for the Battle City Finals.

While the rest of them rode in Mai's convertible, Seto and Mokuba flew ahead to the location of the finals.

As they walked into the stadium, Jonouchi brought up a point that had everyone participating in a discussion.

"Hey Yugi, where'd you pick up this new friend of yours? She's not exactly the normal type."

"This is Ishtar Misao. She actually met the other me first."

"Ishtar?" Anzu asked. "Like that lady who was in the museum?"

Misao nodded. "She's my older sister. I'm also the younger sister of Marik."

"Hey, are you spying on us or something for that guy?!" Jonouchi demanded, lifting her up by the shirt with both hands (she'd changed to a t-shirt and jeans at a store before proceeding to the finals). "I'll pound you if you are!"

She shook her head. "You misunderstand the situation. Marik has acted on his own. The rest of our family doesn't support his actions. I'm _helping_ you by being here, because I can point out Marik from a sea of other Egyptians. He's very distinctive."

"See? We'll know who our real enemy is with just her pointing at him!" Yugi assured them.

"Does he look like you?" Honda asked.

"Of course not! He and I have different mothers. I'm half-Japanese, thus why I have the lighter complexion and dark hair."

"Ishtar-san, you're very different from other girls I've met," Shizuka observed. "The instant you could, you changed to this boyish outfit. Do women in Egypt dress this way?"

"No, I was raised in America most of my life, and I'm not the most girlish young woman you'll meet, Shizuka-san."

"I almost died when I saw your outfit," Mai despaired. "A girl like you should wear clothes to _emphasize _your body, not hide it."

'_Ino-san and Mai-san would be best friends if they ever met.'_ "I think a pair of jeans is more practical than that flowing skirt. What would happen if a breeze came up?"

Everyone save Misao blushed at the comment, but nothing else was said, for they entered the arena.

_*Imoto,*_ Marik's voice invaded her mind. _*If you so much as gasp at my appearance, let alone hint at my true identity, I'll immediately point you out to the dark spirit of the Sennen Ring! He's coming now, so you have your choice!*_

'_He has me trapped. If I don't say a word, I'll have betrayed Yugi-san's trust, but if I do, Marik will sic the dark one on me! If only I could seal the Sennen Ring's power, but I don't know how!'_

**'**_**Relax, just pretend you're reading your contract and don't notice.'**_

'_Right now, I hate Marik.'_

Out of her pocket, Misao took out a glasses case. She opened it, put on a pair of reading glasses and pretended that she was reading her contract as everyone rushed over to meet the new arrival, "Namu". Yugi looked suspicious, but when there was no reaction from Misao, he let it slide.

_*Rishid is coming now, so when he appears, I want you to treat him as you would me! Understand?*_

Another of their friends, Ryo Bakura, came into the arena. He looked dead on his feet, but Misao knew that this was the host of the spirit of the Sennen Ring, her greatest enemy.

'_Lucky I took off the Sennen Tauk or I'd be sunk. He's a vicious individual, who'll do anything to get what he wants: all seven Sennen Items. I don't know what exactly collecting the seven items does save summoning a dark power beyond anything the world has seen in three thousand years.'_

**'**_**I wonder which is stronger, this dark power or the Jubi.'**_

'_I don't know, but I don't want to find out, personally.'_

Rishid came in next, and Misao gasped at how massive he'd become. He'd always been tall, but now he was _huge_. _'Rishid… If I didn't know better, I'd think you were Marik too.'_

Because of her reaction, everyone was convinced that Rishid was Marik.

* * *

They boarded the blimp that the finals would be done on, and Misao went to the top deck, where the dueling arena was. She sensed Marik come up after her, so she let him speak first.

"You've played well by the rules, Imoto. I'm impressed, considering how emotional you are."

In a split second, Misao whirled around, fury in her eyes. She slapped him with the force of a punch, making him fly into the side of the platform. "DON'T YOU DARE TALK TO ME AS IF I'M SOME MINDLESS PAWN OF YOURS, ISHTAR MARIK! BULLYING AND DEATH THREATS I CAN TAKE FROM TOTAL STRANGERS, BUT NOT FROM YOU! I WANT THE WHOLE STORY, AND I WANT IT NOW!"

The platinum blonde teenager cowered under his sister's wrath. He cradled his cheek, which was bright red from the blow, sure to bruise. "Imoto…the pharaoh ordered our father to be murdered, so I'm seeking revenge against him! It will set us free from our lives as tomb keepers!"

She huffed and turned away. "You disgust me."

"But Imoto—"

"You'd better stay there until I leave, or else I'll come back and kick you until your ribs break and you're coughing up blood. Your petty revenge means nothing to me, because I know what really happened that day, the day Otou-sama died. You don't deserve the truth, you piece of trash."

She stormed off, took the elevator down and ran until she got to a hallway, dropping into a crouch. She held her knees and shook as she thought, _'I was so cruel to my brother…even if he deserved it! I can't believe I slapped him so hard his face is bruised! Even if he needed to hear such words from me, I feel horrible…'_

**'**_**If it makes you feel any better, I would've killed him outright.'**_

'_That makes me feel worse! I'm a despicable human being!'_

**'**_**You're not taking any bad behavior from him. You scolded him, as if you were his mother. Don't feel guilty over that.'**_

"Misao-san, why are you crouched in the middle of the hallway?" Yami asked as he walked over.

She lowered her head into her knees and didn't move.

"Your reaction to Marik was odd, since I expected you to run up to him, slap him and scold him. You acted surprised by his appearance, instead of angry. This mystery is something I'll find out, if Marik's blackmailed you into silence."

She lifted her head and murmured, "Thank you, my pharaoh."

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You should get up and face him, instead of hiding here." He took her arm and gently began to pull her up. "Come on, I'll be with you every step of the way."

She smiled a bit and stood up, walking with him to the central room of the blimp, where a large lottery machine was to decide which duelists faced each other first in the finals. The lot fell to Yami versus Ryo, which Misao knew she'd have to watch to see the true face of the spirit of the Sennen Ring.

* * *

The duel ended in Yami's victory, Misao grinning. _'Boom! You are defeated, Spirit of the Sennen Ring!'_

**'**_**Can I finish him off while he's weak?'**_

'_No, because that would kill his host, too. You saw Ryo-san's reaction to being thrust into the middle of that duel. He knows nothing about what the dark one does while he's in control, unlike Yugi-san with the pharaoh, and us. The next duel is a turning point in the finals, for everyone.'_

**'**_**Do you want to fill me in?'**_

'_You'll find out.'_

* * *

So everyone was shocked (save Misao, of course, and Yami, who'd figured it out by the similarities between the pair and Marik's bruised cheek) who Marik really was, and, that Marik had a darker personality which surfaced when Rishid fell unconscious. Misao kept her distance because she knew that Yami Marik had a tendency to take any grudge Marik had and multiply it by a hundred percent. She didn't want to get killed, so she hid behind the tallest person so he wouldn't set his sights on her.

When he left, Seto muttered, "Let go of me, Ishtar. I am not your human meat shield against that psycho."

She forced her fingers to release the back of his duster and murmured, "I'm sorry, Kaiba-san. You have no idea how much Yami Marik frightens me."

"That freak? What's there to fear about him?"

"You thought Marik and his death games were bad? Just wait until he starts actually _succeeding _in killing people. He's not just after the pharaoh. _Everyone_ on this blimp will be a victim if they get in his way."

"You're his younger sister, so you've seen him appear before if you know his personality."

She nodded. "I was there when he appeared the first time. This is only the second." _'That first time was the closest I've ever been to death. It's the reason why Onee-chan sent me away after she gave me the Sennen Tauk. Now that he's back and I have nowhere to run, it's only a matter of time until he finishes the job.'_

**'**_**No he won't!'**_ the Nibi shouted. _**'You have **_**me**_** this time, and I won't let you die, even if I have to pull you back by a thread of life! He'll be the first to see the fury of the Nibi since my last Jinchuriki!'**_

'_Thank you, Kitty. I'll appreciate all the help I can get.'_

* * *

After Ishizu's duel with Seto, the two sisters embraced, and the elder whispered, "What are you doing here? I told you to stay where you were. _How_ are you here? The mirror was smashed…"

"I shattered mine and somehow gained the ability to cross on my own."

"However you got here, go back. It's not safe, now more than ever!"

"You couldn't be more correct, Ishizu," Yami Marik broke in, drawing the knife from the Sennen Rod. He stabbed Misao in the back, only for her to disappear. "I've seen this trick before. Bakura! Find her!"

Misao leaped from her hiding place as Yami Bakura slashed her second Shadow Clone and it vanished. She felt right into Yami Marik's trap, and his knife was embedded in her left shoulder. She winced, her feet hitting the edge of the deck wrong, and she swayed dangerously.

"I'll take _that_, my dear," Yami Marik stated as his hand closed around the Sennen Tauk in her pocket. "Farewell, for you're no longer of any use to me."

He shoved her off and the women screamed, the men shouted, and the evil dark ones laughed.

* * *

"You have my thanks for acquiring the Sennen Tauk for me," Yami Bakura said as he pocketed the Item.

"It was all part of my plan. She was in my way, so the Shadow Realm wasn't enough for her."

"MARIK!" Yami yelled.

"Oh, did I just kill your little _pet_, Pharaoh?"

"You'll pay for this! I'll defeat you if it's the lad thing I do!"

"I look forward to our duel with this fury I see in your eyes."

* * *

**'**_**Misao! MISAO!'**_

"Huh…"

**'**_**WAKE UP! DON'T LET A TINY WOUND LIKE THIS DEFEAT YOU!'**_

She wrenched her eyes open, only to see she was hanging upside-down, her left arm completely dead, her body freezing, and her mind was scrambled. She saw a faint red glow of a weakening Demon Cloak, which meant she'd been hanging like this for several hours at least, maybe even a day. She swung her good arm up and caught the canvas of the blimp, only to reinforce her hold with chakra as the Cloak blinked out. "This is the second time…I think I'm sensing a pattern here…"

**'**_**Shut up and climb, Misao.'**_

"Okay…"

Using one arm and her feet, the kunoichi ascended the blimp until she got to the top deck, only to feel it land. She almost swore but grumbled instead, "Oh the irony…"

**'**_**Get up or you never will.'**_

"Why did he have to…" She grimaced as she stood. "…twist and drag? I hope he didn't hit any nerves or my life as a ninja is over."

**'**_**Torn muscle. With most of my chakra I healed all nerve damage and the open wound, but it still almost bled out and hasn't been treated properly, so you won't feel much until then.'**_

"I'll kill him…"

**'**_**I'll help.'**_

She bandaged her shoulder and entire arm for support and put it in a sling, before downing a huge meal and a food pill that began the process of restoring her blood. "I sure am a mess after one injury. I'm getting the Sennen Tauk back, even if I have to steal it from the pharaoh."

She rode the elevator down to the bottom deck, where she met Ishizu and Anzu.

"Misao!" her sister cried, hugging her. "I thought you'd died for sure! How did you survive?!"

"I'm no ordinary person, remember? I have a real demon on my side," Misao told her. "Now get off me, it hurts."

She then noticed the glazed look in Anzu's eyes and she udjat on her forehead. Before she could say a thing, Anzu spoke.

"_Imoto, it's me. Please don't scream at me further for my foolishness, I see it now. Right at this moment the pharaoh is battling for his and everyone's lives against my dark half. Please, forgive me for what I've done to you and stand with me as I fight to get my body back._"

**'**_**Then we can't kill him.'**_

'_I feel your pain, Kitty. Come on, we'll rest after this.'_"Onii-chan, let's go. We'll talk later."

* * *

The duel ended, victory for Yami, and Marik had his body back. Everybody had been shocked to see Misao had survived, and she'd received a round of hugs and the like, before everyone left to return to Japan. Misao had her contract with Seto, so she stayed in Japan while her siblings took a boat to go back to Egypt.

Seto allowed her to recover at the hospital, paying for her stay, since she had no money, yet then she learned he'd had an accident. He'd walked in on some of his scientists who'd been burning magnesium and was temporarily blind.

His head of security, Isono, briefed her on the situation when she was healed.

"Kaiba-sama has refused all help from the regular staff, Ishtar-san. He's even scared some away. I hope that you'll have more success, since he doesn't know you well and you haven't been cowed by his temper. The key to his room and a list of his needs and demands. Good luck."

"Thank you, Isono-san."

She bowed and headed upstairs and down a long hallway to Seto's master bedroom. She unlocked the door and decided to mess with him a bit as she stepped inside. _'Voice change, here we come.'_

She raised the pitch of her voice (her normal voice was almost boyish, the pitch was so low) so it was higher, to a normal teenage girl's level. She cheerily greeted, "Rise and shine, Kaiba-sama! It's morning!"

A glass full of water flew past her head. "Get out!"

She ignored him and walked to the closed curtains, throwing them open, then sliding open the windows. "It's a beautiful summer day, so warm and lively!"

"I said: GET OUT!"

She hummed as she went to his closet and selected an outfit for him. She then went to the bed and threw the covers off, seeing he was in his pajamas, though the pants were backwards and several buttons were undone on the top. He had terrible bedhead and sweat beaded on his skin. _'He's been having nightmares. It looks like he hasn't gotten out of bed in a week.'_ "First things first, we need to get you out of bed and into some fresh clothes after your bath!"

He turned his head towards her voice and glared, even if his eyes looked past her. "You'll do no such thing! I'm not some invalid that needs to be waited on hand and foot!"

"Nonsense, Kaiba-sama! You need some things to be done for you, so I'm here!"

She slid her arms beneath his shoulders and knees, then lifted him like he weighed no more than a small child. He was shocked still for a second before he protested, "Let go of me right now! You're fired! You're sued! Pack up your things and leave, you brutish woman!"

She set him down on the toilet, went to the large tub and began to fill it up with warm water. She hummed as she worked, sounding positively at ease despite his threats. She got out a set of towels and a bathrobe, then put in some bath oil that smelled like the ocean. Its fragrance filled the bathroom and she smiled as she turned off the water. _'Now is the true test: doing this without getting flustered or blushing.'_

He crossed his arms and deadpanned, "You're _not_ bathing me. I'm a man, you're a woman."

"I'm a professional Kaiba-sama, not a pervert," she countered and unbuttoned the top of his pajamas. _'But even I have to admit: this is one fine piece of man. He's whip-thin and tall, but he's going to be a fine husband for whoever marries him.'_

**'**_**Warning! Warning!'**_ the Nibi shouted.

She shook her head to clear it and quickly pulled off his pajama bottoms too. She lifted him again and settled him into the tub. She poured a bucket of water over his head and he demanded, "What're you doing?!"

"I would've dunked your head under the water, but you could've accused me of trying to drown you."

She lathered up his hair and began scrubbing. _'Even wet, his hair is soft. He sure knows how to take care of it. His image is a source of pride, after all. Customers don't just buy KaibaCorp's products, they buy Kaiba Seto and the impressive image he's set up.'_

**'**_**No more thoughts of **_**Kaiba Seto**_**! Uchiha Itachi, U-CHI-HA I-TA-CHI!'**_

'_Itachi-kun?' _Misao perked up at the thought of her promised one. _'He's such a wonderful person, risking everything to be with me. Me! Of all the other girls he could've chosen, he chose me, the most unsuitable of them all…'_ Her hands cleaned the short brunette hair thoroughly. _'I've never been able to wash his hair like this…'_

**'**_**You'd just turned sixteen when you left! You were barely legal! He's going to **_**lavish**_** you with attention when you get back! Remember that!'**_

She poured another bucket to rinse his hair and picked up a bar of soap. She scrubbed every spot she could reach before she handed it to Seto. "You can do the rest, I won't be so crude as to wash every inch of you, Kaiba-sama." _'Even if his body felt firm and pleasing under my hands…his skin was almost entirely an expanse of silky smoothness, save the scarring I noticed…'_

**'**_**YOU PERVERTED TEENAGE HUMAN!'**_ The Nibi slapped image after romantic image between its host and Itachi: how he'd held her, kissed her without abandon, told her he cared despite everything against them…_everything_ that Misao loved about her new boyfriend. _**'You're a hypocrite! You told him you were a professional, yet you're feeling him up as you're washing him!'**_

"I'm done," Seto announced, holding out the soap.

She took it back and rinsed him off before lifting him from the tub, draining the water. She dried him off, then put the bathrobe on him. She carried him to his desk and took his comb and hairbrush. She began brushing his hair, and he closed his eyes, his face totally relaxed as he let out a soft sigh.

'_He likes having his hair brushed…I don't think anyone outside his family knows this. Secret revealed!'_

**'**_**Shut up! You're not his girlfriend or even interested in him! After he "forgives" you, you're going straight back to Konohagakure no Sato! If you think about CEO-san while you're with Itachi, I'll tell him while I'm in control of your body!'**_

'_I know I can't have Seto-san…but sometimes the forbidden fruit is the sweetest…'_

**'**_**I can't believe this! That promise ring around your finger means nothing the instant you touch the one you've been drawn to all this time!'**_

'_Is this what you were warning me about? I didn't think I was capable of loving another once I promised myself to Itachi-kun…but this is a tender moment I never thought I could have with him…'_

A soft snore reached her ears and she looked down to see he'd fallen asleep because of her ministrations. She combed his hair into its normal style before dressing him in his proper clothes, minus any socks and shoes, since she doubted he'd be going anywhere today. She lifted him and carried him downstairs to the dining room, where Mokuba was already halfway through his meal. He looked up at her entrance and stared.

"Whoa, how'd you get Nii-sama down here without a fuss? Dressed and washed, no less?"

"I didn't give him a choice," she explained in her normal voice with a smile. "Besides, he doesn't know it's me or else he'd extend my time here as further punishment."

"What'd you do?"

"I changed my voice. So I'd be thankful if you pretended you don't recognize me until his eyes clear up."

"Sure! Nii-sama needs to have one pulled over him every once in a while."

She sat Seto down and shook his shoulder as the cook brought out a plate of food. "Kaiba-sama, wake up."

His eyes snapped open and he demanded, "Where am I?!"

"You're at the dining room table, Nii-sama!" Mokuba informed him. "I haven't seen you out here ever since you had your accident!"

Misao sat next to Seto and picked up his utensils, beginning to cut his food. The scraping of the metal against the plate caused him to turn towards her and snap, "I can feed myself!"

"No you can't, Kaiba-sama. You'd just spill everywhere," she insisted.

"It's true, Nii-sama!" Mokuba added. "Let her help you until your eyes heal!"

Seto scowled before he quietly let her feed him every bite.

Mokuba made sure not the slightest crumb was missed before he asked, "What're you gonna do now, Nii-sama?"

"I'll probably go back to my room."

He stood, only for Misao to take his arm, lead him outside and sit him underneath a massive sycamore tree near the back. Mokuba followed them and looked up at the tree.

"I've always wanted to climb this tree to the top, but you'll never let me, Nii-sama."

"You'll fall and break your neck," Seto muttered.

"Nii-sama, I'm sixteen, not five."

'_Mokuba-san's _sixteen_?!'_

**'**_**He **_**is**_** a couple inches taller than you, you know.'**_

'_He sure doesn't act like he's sixteen.'_ "That tree isn't very tall to me."

The black-haired teen stared at her. "It's a good two hundred feet! The first branch is fifteen feet up!"

"Just watch, I'll be at the top before you know it."

Seto sat back and folded his arms. "If you fall, I'm not paying the damages."

Misao giggled and leapt up, her heeled shoes not impeding her progress at all as she hopped her way to the very top in seconds. She looked down as Mokuba shouted, up to her, hands around his mouth, "That's so cool! Can you teach me that?"

She took a different route down and landed like a feather on the grass. "It'd take you ten years to get to my age level, Mokuba-sama. I've been practicing since I was three."

"You mean you're ahead of your peers?"

"Yeah. It wasn't that hard, given who I am."

"You're a genius?!"

"You could say that."

"Wow! That's amazing! They must have a high standard if even your peers can jump like that!"

"It's a basic skill."

"I was listening to your steps as you jumped," Seto cut in. "No ordinary person could jump like that. You _must_ be a huge, bulky woman."

Misao snorted in amusement while Mokuba protested, "She's _not_, Nii-sama! She's actually smaller than I am!"

"Impossible. The strength she would need to jump so high and to lift me like I weigh nothing couldn't be so compressed."

"If I was as big as you're imagining me to be, I would've broken the first branch the instant I let it support my weight, Kaiba-sama," Misao countered, then continued, "Where I come from, it isn't just physical training, but mental and spiritual exercises to boost our chakra."

"Chakra?" Mokuba interrupted. "What's that?"

"Energy that comprises of physical and mental strength. The more you train, the larger your capacity to make this energy is, and it's used for every kind of art we train with: taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu are the basic three, but with more training, the masters have added fuuinjutsu and kinjutsu, while some bloodlines have developed dojutsu."

"What do all these terms mean? You lost me at 'taijutsu'."

"Okay, I'll demonstrate as best I can, as well as explain the term." She got into her first stance for the normal Uchiha style. "Most of this I do as natural as breathing, so I have to concentrate on _not_ doing it the first time. Taijutsu: much more powerful martial arts than civilians practice. If I were a civilian, this is how it would be. Think fast!"

She had her fists raised, but instead kicked, the side of her foot stopping a hair from his temple. He flinched, then blinked.

"You were so fast, and I've been trained by the same teacher as Nii-sama! _That_ was just your physical strength alone?!"

"I've been trained the same as my cousins, and they're the geniuses of the family. If I implement chakra into the mix, I would've killed you before you'd have noticed I moved."

"I'm thankful you're on our side, then."

"Next: ninjutsu, or more simply known as the chakra arts, because they're created solely from chakra. I'm hesitant to use any, because of our location…"

"The grass can be replanted! Right Nii-sama?"

"As long as you don't destroy the whole backyard, yes."

"Each country specializes in its own type of elemental ninjutsu: Fire, Wind, Earth, Lightning, Water and their variations. My family specializes in fire ninjutsu, thus why we live in Hi no Kuni. So a basic fire ninjutsu works as follows."

Her hands flew through the signs and she brought a hand to her mouth. "Fire style: Fireball Jutsu!"

The fireball that followed incinerated an enormous circle of grass and dirt, it was so hot. When she stopped it, she sighed, as Mokuba gaped at the smoking hole that was in the middle of the lawn. _'Three…two…one…'_

"KAIBA-SAMA!" Isono nearly screamed. He and five others came running, guns drawn and ready for trouble.

Seto turned his head serenely towards their general direction. "Yes?"

"Are you and the young master all right?! We saw an explosion!"

"We're all right, Isono!" Mokuba called, then gushed, "That was _sweet_! Without even matches, you lit that up and it was _huge_! What's it called again?"

"_She_ caused _that_, Mokuba-sama?!" Isono demanded.

"Yeah! She says it was a basic thing, too!"

Misao scratched her neck. "Mokuba-sama, _this_ was the other reason why I was hesitant to show you anything."

"_How dare you_ endanger the lives of Kaiba-sama and Mokuba-sama like this! If you were under _my_ employ, I would have you fired and put in prison! I approved because of your impressive skill set, but after such carelessness—"

"But she _isn't_, is she?" Seto questioned in a soft voice. "Only _I_ can hire and fire employees whether at the house or corporation, so _I'm_ the only one who can reprimand her, incapacitated or not."

"But Kaiba-sama—"

"_Understood_?"

"Y-yes, Kaiba-sama."

"Now go get some people to fix that, it's an eyesore."

"Yes, Kaiba-sama! Right away!"

The men in suits ran back to the mansion, and Misao turned to Seto, touched beyond words. "Why'd you…do that?"

"If you were fired, I'd go right back inside and sit in my room until my eyes cleared up. You're the first to brush off my threats with such composure that you've impressed me. Keep serving me well and perhaps you might just rise to head housekeeper."

'_If not for the mentions of being his staff, I would've thought he was beginning to like me.'_

**'**_**Don't flatter yourself. He's an "arrogant jerk".'**_

'_I know, but I can't help but be drawn to him. He needs me, if not after he's healed.'_

**'**_**If he turns around and says he hates you once he finds out it's you, I'll laugh.'**_

* * *

For the next several weeks, nothing changed about the schedule that had been set, save when Mokuba noticed her actions were increasingly tender towards Seto. He pulled her aside when the chestnut-haired billionaire was taking a nap underneath the same sycamore tree (he said it was good for his nerves) and pointed out, "You like Nii-sama, don't you?"

Misao nodded without any hesitation.

"How long?"

"I don't know, but it began to get stronger once I began taking care of him."

"You know that he still doesn't know who you are, and if he begins to return your feelings, he might get mad when he finds out who you are."

"I know, I should've let my voice be normal by now, but it's nice to have him act normal around me, not guarded. You know we got off on the wrong foot."

"I think he didn't like you because of your American mannerisms. That threw him for a loop. I heard him talk about it one time, since you had no clue who he was or his standing in Japan or the Duel Monsters world. He actually respects you for your toughness when you survived that attack on the blimp. No one else could've survived being stabbed and falling off at four thousand feet in the air. Now that I know that you're a ninja, it makes sense how not even your footsteps make sounds when you're walking. Nii-sama wouldn't hate you for admitting the truth, and I think by watching how he is around you, he might be starting to like you as a woman, too."

"But I'm too young for him, Mokuba. I'm even younger than you."

"I don't think he cares, as long as he likes you."

'_Just like Itachi-kun…'_

**'**_**But Itachi's not a self-absorbed pain in the butt.'**_

"Do you really think that I'd be able to be with him? He seems to be fine by himself."

"He's twenty years old, almost twenty-one. He's a highly eligible bachelor and he doesn't want some bimbo to be a trophy wife, he wants someone with a backbone and will love him for him, not his money, status or looks. Even while you were healing in the hospital, he's been hounded by other major corporations to date their daughters, nieces, granddaughters…just so they can get their hands into KaibaCorp's assets. I'm sure if you hadn't come to take care of him, we would've had to rely on a want ad that would've brought a bunch of squealing fan girls of all ages just to try to get a piece of him. You're a breath of fresh air for him, a girl that doesn't see him as anything but another man, albeit a handsome one."

'_This is encouraging.'_

**'I**_** still think you should forget about it.'**_

She sensed Seto awakening and came over. "Did you sleep well, Kaiba-sama?"

He stood and she offered her shoulder to guide him inside. "Well enough. I'm hungry, let's have dinner."

'_He must've not heard my normal voice, thank goodness.'_

**'**_**It's been too long for him to recognize you by voice, Misao. You didn't talk enough around him.'**_

'_It matters how well his memory works.'_

**'**_**Humans have selective memories, they remember what they think is important and forget the rest.'**_

She took her customary position behind Seto's chair after he'd sat down, only for the elder Kaiba to tell the cook, "Get an extra plate for her, she's eating with us tonight."

"Kaiba-sama?"

'_What's he doing? I'm not off-duty or anything!'_

**'**_**He's making his first move.'**_

"The new maid that's been taking care of me, she must be starving."

"Yes, Kaiba-sama."

When the cook left, Seto pointed to the chair that she'd occupied as he'd gotten used to eating while not being able to see. "Sit down."

She sighed and did as commanded, only to ask, "This is a change. Why am I eating with you tonight?"

"From now on, you'll dine with us."

Mokuba smiled at her encouragingly as the cook placed a plate of food in front of her. She picked up her utensils and began to eat. She was about to take a drink when Seto asked, "Where are you from originally and how did you come to be here? Was it this Hi no Kuni or somewhere else?"

"From what I can piece together, I was born there, but only a day or two after I was moved into the care of my father in a hidden place with little contact with the outside world. I grew up with my three older half-siblings for the first nine years of my life, and after my father died, I was placed under the care of an orphanage in America. For three months before I came here, I visited my mother's hometown with my cousins, and you know the rest."

"What happened to your mom?" Mokuba asked, concern clear on his features.

"Just before I went to visit her, she died."

"Did you know her well?"

"Enough that I'm sure I'll cry at her funeral."

"Three months and there hasn't been one?"

"No one knows she's dead but me. She was in exile and I was her only contact, and that was a call once a year. I'm sure no one will even care, even if I tell them."

"That's cruel."

Seto snorted. "That's the way exile works, Mokuba." He then asked, "What did you so with your cousins during your visit?"

"There are several stories I could tell, but mostly I explored and met my younger cousin's friends. They were the first I ever had and they accepted me wholeheartedly. I also slipped in a good amount of time training."

"What about your other cousins?"

"My older cousin I had limited contact with because he was so busy with work and family matters. I only met with him six times the duration of my stay."

"How old are they?"

"Sixteen and twenty-two."

Mokuba perked up at that. "Is your younger cousin a fun guy? I'd like to meet him."

"Like most of the family, he's not the most sociable of people, but when he does reach out, he's very friendly, although he's still the tiniest bit cautious, because he's one of the members of the higher-class families in the town, if you know what I mean."

Mokuba nodded. "Sure seems like he's under a lot of pressure, being the younger brother."

"How'd you guess?"

"I've experienced it, being the sibling of a genius. Everyone compares you, especially when you prove to be good at the same thing your brother is."

"That's an insight into his character I didn't know before. I saw he was rather relaxed, especially when he was away from his family."

"Maybe he's reached his goal of being on level ground with his brother, and I'm sure his family makes him feel inferior and under pressure all the more. Nii-sama, I'm not like that, I just want to help you run KaibaCorp the best I can."

Seto smiled and rubbed his brother's hair. "Thanks, Ototo."

Another maid cleared the table and Misao stood up. "Kaiba-sama, thank you for the meal. Would you like to go to bed now?"

"Yes."

**'**_**I warn you, this isn't wise.'**_

'_Why?'_

**'**_**Try it and find out if you're curious.'**_

She helped Seto up to his room and as soon as she closed the door, he had her against the wall and his face so close to hers she had to cross her eyes. His lips met hers the next instant, and she didn't just feel a spark, she lit up on fire as he made love to her mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tangled her fingers in his hair.

All thought escaped her as he slid his hands along the nape of her neck, and a deep purr came from her throat. He parted from her lips to rain kisses on her jawline to her ear, and he whispered, "You smell like wind blowing across a desert, yet you taste like fire…it's intoxicating…"

**'**_**Before your brain goes completely out the window, I suggest you get out of this now.'**_

'_Why…?'_

**'**_**Do you want to get pregnant when you're not even married? He's that attracted to you, I can smell it.'**_

'_Is he that…'_ She gasped as he bit down on the tender flesh of her collarbone. _'I can tell now. The problem is…I don't know if I can…'_

**'**_**I'm not letting this night ruin your chances with Itachi, he'll have to back off until you're good and ready for this.'**_

The Nibi took over Misao's body and pushed him away until he was at arm's length. Seto tried to push back, but the Biju wouldn't have any of it. "_**You see here, Kaiba Seto. You'll cease this activity at once, or you'll be in the hospital tonight,**_" it growled, its clawed hands digging into his shoulders.

He stopped and demanded, "Who are you and what have you done with her?"

"_**If she hasn't told you yet, you have no right to such personal information. I'm going to let you off with a warning this time: Leave her alone until she allows this or I'll break every bone in your body, I don't care if you're blind and can't fight back.**_"

He gritted his teeth and huffed. "Fine, but only if she'll be here when my eyes are healed."

"_**If that is her wish, and if things stay calm.**_"

"What do you mean?"

The Nibi didn't answer, it receded back into the seal. Misao smiled and put her arms around Seto. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but…I'm not normal, even from where I come from, Kaiba-sama."

"Call me Seto."

'_If he knew it was me, I doubt he'd let me be so close to him as to call him by his first name.'_ "Seto-kun, inside my body is a creature called a Biju, a demon of great power. The one I'm the container of is the Nibi no Neko. I'm called a Jinchuriki, feared and coveted by the great powers of all the Elemental Countries and beyond. I don't even remember when it was placed inside of me, only that it's always been with me, as long as I can remember. Because of it, people shun me and I'm always alone…until I met another like myself through my younger cousin. He's the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi no Kitsune, and he taught me that it wasn't my fault that I was chosen to be the Nibi Jinchuriki, just as he wasn't to the Kyubi. If I try hard enough, people will accept and befriend me, looking past the foreboding aura that they feel just being around me."

"From what I've experienced being around you, nothing surprises me anymore. Was that it speaking to me?"

"Yes."

"It's very protective of you, isn't it?"

"It's done so since I learned how to use its powers, so yes."

"Does it have a name?"

**'**_**Tell him if you want, I don't care if you do, as long as he doesn't go telling everybody that you carry a monster inside of you.'**_

"Matatabi, even though I just call it Kitty."

"May I have _your_ name? You've never said it once in all these weeks."

'_Should I? He's trusted me by not knowing my identity, being the one he's forced to serve him because of a grudge he holds against me…'_

**'**_**It's your choice, although it may just ruin the mood, not that I'm complaining.'**_

"You already know who I am."

"I don't recognize your voice or your physical characteristics that I've been able to feel. I wouldn't ask your name if I knew you."

'_Has he been so wrapped up in me that he hasn't seen the clues I've given him? Perhaps just by changing my voice threw him for a loop.'_ She let her voice change back and looked into his sightless eyes as she stated, "I'm Ishtar Misao."

She could almost hear all the puzzle pieces fall into place in his head as he was silent for a moment. He then began to laugh and it confused her.

'_What's so funny about my true identity?'_

**'**_**I think he's laughing at how truly "blind" he's been, since only a voice change fooled him for so long. You changed nothing else, yet he never recognized you.'**_

'_Oh.'_

"I should've known. The very day you came here was the day after you were released from the hospital. Isono would've sent you to take care of me because you're the only one who's not afraid of me, and I did tell you you would be my personal maid for three months, and three months is over tomorrow…" He lowered his hand from his face and smiled. "I've fallen for you, Misao-chan. If you would stay here until I can see your face again, I'll give you anything you want as thanks for all that you've done for me. I want you for you, because I fell for the person I was with every day, not the girl I had a worthless grudge against. Will you have me?"

Her eyes quivered before she threw her arms around him. "I couldn't turn you away, Seto-kun."

**'**_**And the plot thickens.'**_

* * *

The Kaiba Mansion seemed livelier after that, and Misao was alight with happiness. She took off the maid outfit once her contract had expired and stayed at Seto's side out of pure loyalty. She often kissed him and Mokuba glowed with pride when he saw them together.

"There's a phone call for you, Ishtar-san."

She picked it up and blinked when she heard Yami's voice.

"_Misao-san, would you come over to the Game Shop? There's something I want to give you._"

She gasped and clenched her free hand. "You're serious?!"

"_Ishizu-san told me that you needed it badly and I know how much she cares for you._"

Mokuba came racing down the stairs at that moment. "Misao! You have to come! Nii-sama's eyes have finally cleared up!"

She held up a finger and smiled softly. "Thank you. I know it's important and I'll be over as soon as I can."

"_I'll see you then._"

"Of course, bye."

She hung up the phone and Mokuba asked, "Who was that?"

"The pharaoh, he told me that he's going to return the Sennen Tauk to me."

"I thought the Sennen Items were cursed."

She didn't answer and walked up the stairs to Seto's room, only for him to step out and stare at her. She'd changed to a more comfortable outfit (t-shirt and jeans) and pulled her hair back in a low ponytail to keep it out of the way, so she couldn't be that attractive.

"Your hair's grown since I last laid eyes on you, but your style hasn't changed. Why the loose jeans and t-shirt?"

"It's what I grew up with."

"So boyish."

She shrugged.

He took her by the shoulders and led her into his room. "Anything you want, it's yours."

She raised a pinky and he frowned. "_This_ is what you want?"

"A promise, which is what I can manage. After today, I have to leave."

"Is it not safe?"

"I promised to visit my cousins as soon as I was able, but I'll be back."

He hooked his pinky with hers and they shook up and down for a bit and then released at the same time, before he slid a tiny ring over that finger. "A reminder of that promise, and to not forget me."

"I won't."

He kissed her for a long moment and made her whole body tingle. She was breathless when she left, a silly smile on her face.

**'**_**Now you're free of that nuisance, we can return to Itachi and forget about him.'**_

'_Itachi-kun…'_ She kissed the promise ring on her pointer finger and headed for the game shop.

Misao entered the Kame Game Shop and Yami greeted, "Hello, Misao-san. I didn't think you'd take too long, so here, this is yours, since it was stolen."

He held out the Sennen Tauk and she took it. "Thank you."

"Bakura's still out there, so I suggest you leave for now."

"I was going to once I got this back. I'll be back someday, though when will be decided if this is the safer place for me."

She closed her eyes and thought, _'Konohagakure no Sato!'_

* * *

So...was it terrible? Awful to the point of barfing? *cackles*

Please review!


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Yu-Gi-Oh!

So Misao returns to Konoha...to find what after all the time she's been gone?

* * *

Misao opened her eyes and her mouth fell open in shock. "Wha…WHAT HAPPENED?!"

She was standing at what used to be the main gate to the village, but now…

"It's completely destroyed…not a single building standing…"

She stopped dead when a thought came to her. _'What if everyone's _dead_?'_

The half-Uchiha teen fell to her knees and her face crumpled as if she was about to cry, but no tears came. _'I cried so much as a child that I can't cry now… Even if I've lost everything here.'_

"Misao! You're back!"

She looked up, aghast at the sight. _'Itachi…kun?'_

The steel-haired man scooped her up and held her close. She pushed her face into the crook of his neck, relishing that she was in his arms again, forgetting what she'd just left.

"Come on, we have to get you out of here, it's not safe."

He pulled her along, until she followed him step for step.

"What's happened?"

"The attack left Konoha in ruins, but with minor casualties. With such devastation done to one of the major villages, a Kage Summit was called, where the temporary Rokudaime was joined by the Mizukage, Kazekage, Tsuchikage and Raikage. The Raikage demanded outright that Konoha hand over the stolen Nibi. The Hokage told him that it had never been proven that Konoha had stolen the Biju from Kumo, and even if they had, there was no record of another Jinchuriki ever existing within the village's walls. The Raikage calmed down and there was an agreement made that all three Jinchuriki needed to be protected from the Akatsuki, but then it was found out the Hokage was manipulating the other Kages, so he was hunted down and killed. The Godaime has resumed command and an order has been sent out that the Nibi Jinchuriki must be found and brought to a secret location with the other two. The Akatsuki have been quiet all these months, so I'm sure they have no leads to finding it, either.

"We're heading towards the Ninja Allied Forces Camp in Rai no Kuni, where we'll join the rest of the ranks. I'm sure that everyone will be glad to see you, especially Sasuke."

"Is he still under punishment?"

"For now, but once the Akatsuki attack, the collar will be removed and he'll join the rest of his comrades, for we cannot spare anyone who has the ability to fight. Also, to raise morale, there's going to be a wedding."

"Whose?"

"Ours."

Her eyes widened in complete shock. "Ours? But I thought our clan hates me!"

"This is true, but Oka-san and Otou-san had to accept that if they wanted me to be their successor, they'd have to give in to my choice of bride. The only condition they had was that you keep a transformation of being a pureblood Uchiha up while in the presence of the Allied Ninja Forces."

"I gotcha."

They reached the camp in a short amount of time, Misao's transformation up so she looked like a normal Uchiha. She didn't like that she had to hide like this, since her mom had taught her that being a half-blood made her special, not the cookie-cutter Uchiha. _'This sucks. I don't look like me anymore.'_

She knew the Nibi would've said she was a baby for whining about such a thing, but it wouldn't talk to her while she was here, making sure she wasn't tracked by their enemy.

He went straight to the Tsunade and bowed. "Reporting in, Hokage-sama."

"Itachi, did you finally find your betrothed?"

"Yes. This is she."

"Hmmm." The busty blonde lifted the girl's chin. "Isn't she a bit young for you? She looks Sasuke's age."

"To me, she's the perfect woman in the world. All I need is your blessing, Hokage-sama, and the ceremony will commence."

Tsunade smiled and nodded. "Of course. It will definitely raise morale, since the search for the Nibi isn't going so well."

"No one's found it yet?"

"We have no clues as to who this person might be. Kumo is certain we stole it, but no one's come forward to confess. I had no idea that the Nibi had been stolen, or that it had been sealed into a new Jinchuriki. If we found who it was, then Kumo could be sated in their eagerness to find out just who had taken the Biju from them. But _how_ could anyone have stolen it, when it would take extraordinary power just to contain it for any length of time?"

'_That's what I want to know, since Oka-san never told me the story, and the only other people who could would be Mikoto-san and Fugaku-san, and I'm sure they're keeping tight-lipped about it to keep in the good graces of the rest of the ninja population. It would be better if it was told now instead of later, but we never know if there could be an enemy listening. I wonder if there hasn't been any Akatsuki activity because the one who seeks me is trying to fix the mirror… If so, it'll be a long time before it's even fixed, but even then, with my mirror shattered, it's useless. I should be safe until the enemy finds that out.'_

"I'm not sure, because there aren't many people who could've done so in the first place."

"Well, enough on that, it's time for your wedding!"

* * *

Misao was a bundle of nerves as she was readied for the ceremony and all sorts of things were running through her mind. _'He didn't even ask me! I've only known him for a short while! Am I even old enough for marriage?! Why is this happening now?! I haven't even gotten used to the idea that we're about to get married! I love him, but why _now_ of all times?! I wish Kitty could talk to me right now…'_

She couldn't even breathe as she was led by Mikoto to Itachi and the wedding commenced. It all became a blur as she was given a real wedding ring and the vows were said. She blinked when Itachi lifted her chin and kissed her. It suddenly hit her that she was now a married woman and she hadn't even remembered her wedding, which was what she'd looked forward to all her life.

'_I just missed the most important day of my life so far! Why did I let my nerves get the best of me?! Now I missed what I've been told is the most beautiful ceremony in the Uchiha family! I'm so stupid!'_

A huge reception flew by and most of the people she didn't even know congratulated her and Itachi. Her nerves came back in full when he led her away, to a secluded tent. He lifted the flap and they entered. When her eyes caught the sight of the large futon and he lifted her up, she knew what was coming next.

'_I'll at least enjoy this part.'_

* * *

Their honeymoon lasted until everyone got sick of them running back to their tent. Then she _had_ to tear herself away from him or else she was _sure_ she'd get pregnant.

"Misao-san, you're _not_ pregnant," Sakura insisted. "Would you quit having me check? It's getting annoying."

"Sorry, it's just that I don't want to put myself in danger when war could be sprung on us at any moment."

"I know you're worried, but these things can only be controlled one way."

"Which?"

"Stop having sex with Itachi."

"Okay. I did tell him that our honeymoon had stretched on long enough."

"_Nine months_?"

"Point."

"Just know you're not pregnant and be happy. I'm sure he won't be for a while, but you have different problems."

"Like what?"

"Like that Sasuke had a bad crush on you before you vanished into thin air. He's super-jealous that Itachi snagged you out of the blue. I think you should talk to him."

"Sure."_ 'I should let him down gently and tell him the truth about my relationship with Itachi.'_

When she exited the medical tent, Itachi ran up to her. "The Akatsuki have just declared war. It's not safe for you here, I need you to leave."

"But what if I don't come back longer this time?"

"As long as the war is over when you do, I'll breathe easy."

They kissed and she held him close before whispering, "Promise me you won't die."

"If I didn't, you'd bring me back to tell me off."

"I think I would. I hope to see you alive and well when I come back."

"I'll do my best."

She smiled and thought, _'Domino City!'_

* * *

Does anyone sense a pattern here, because I do! *grins*

Please review!


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Yu-Gi-Oh!

Think it's confusing now? Just you wait! For now things have stayed in their own worlds, but that will change soon! *maniacal laughter*

* * *

Misao appeared in front of the Kame Game Shop, only to see it was closed. _'Closed in the middle of the day? Why? Oh, there's a note. "On vacation. Will be back in a week." Huh. I never thought they'd take a vacation when the pharaoh was so close to finding out his past, unless…'_ **A/N: They went to Egypt at the end of the series to put the Pharaoh's soul to rest, for those who've read/watched the series... Not too many spoilers on either front, although I could've been that evil! *grins***

Automatically, she took off her wedding band and put it in her leg holster. She'd actually donned a real ninja uniform before she'd left and was now officially an Uchiha, so she now wore a black sleeveless turtleneck dress with the Uchiha sigil on the back, the traditional ninja hip pouch and leg holster for her gear, a blue hitae-ate with the Allied Ninja Forces symbol on it, and black ninja sandals, her hair up in a high ponytail to keep it out of the way. She was sure no one stared, with how people dressed anyways.

She shrugged and headed towards the Kaiba Mansion, since it was the only place she really could call home. She wouldn't be surprised if Seto was at work, but she didn't know where the KaibaCorp Tower was. She looked around as she walked, seeing everything hadn't really changed since her last visit.

'_One thing I won't be surprised with is if Seto-kun proposes to me as soon as he sees me. It has been nine months and he was totally enamored with me before I left. I'm sure that he's mad at me for not saying goodbye before I left, but that'll be seen when we meet again. When I marry him, would that make me __polyandrous?'_

She giggled at that and continued her stroll, only to hear a car pull up next to her. She stopped when the window went down and the person behind it asked, "Are you lost, Miss?"

She turned and smirked. "Why no, weren't you about to pick me up?"

He smirked back and waved to her. "Get in, then."

The door opened and she slipped inside, settling on the plush seat and buckling in. He put an arm on the back of the seat before asking, "Are you here for the first time, or is this a second visit for you?"

"A second visit," she purred. "You're the first to pick me up like this. Is there something you like?"

He pulled her close so their lips almost touched. "Everything."

The car stopped and the driver got out, disappearing into the myriad of trees that now surrounded them. He tackled her onto the seats, the seatbelt snapping from the force of it. She hardly had the time to wrap her arms around his neck as he plundered her mouth with no abandon. She wrapped her legs around his waist, humming to make his lips tingle. He groaned into her mouth and parted from her. She smiled and breathed, "Hello to you too, Seto-kun."

He grinned wolfishly and his blue eyes were like icy fire. "Hello, Misao-chan."

He ran a hand down her shoulder to her waist and noted, "You've matured a lot in nine months."

"Of course I have. I'm seventeen now and I had plenty of female friends to talk to. I'm no longer that bumbling tomboy you remember."

"It makes you all the sexier in my eyes."

"So earlier it was playful banter?"

"Yes, I don't want anyone to know who you are until you're officially Kaiba Misao."

She giggled and murmured, "When will that be?"

He held up a ring with a large diamond. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes."

* * *

Seto didn't spare any expense, so she had a gorgeous dress, he had a custom-cut tux, flowers and decorations, a divine ceremony and huge reception. Mokuba was over the moon that his brother was married to the right girl that, after the honeymoon was over (a couple weeks in the Caribbean), he instantly wanted nieces and nephews.

"Do you think Misao-chan got pregnant during the honeymoon?"

Seto shrugged. "She wouldn't know if she had, it's only been a couple weeks."

Just then, Misao flew by into the nearest bathroom, slamming the door shut. They both raised their eyebrows and Seto called, "Misao? Are you all right?"

'_I haven't gotten sick in ages, and not so violently. Kitty…do you think I could be already?'_

**'**_**Twice, in fact.'**_

'_Twins?! How can you tell so early?!'_

**'**_**Because I did it.'**_

'_Huh?'_

**'**_**One's Itachi's, the other's Kaiba Seto's.'**_

'_You can do that?'_

**'**_**All part of being a cat.'**_

'_I'm in _deep_ trouble. What if Itachi's kid looks like him?!'_

**'**_**I'm counting on it, so your dear second husband will find out you've with another man. You belong to Itachi, he married you first, so you're Uchiha Misao, not Uchiha **_**Kaiba**_** Misao.'**_

'_I hate you.'_

**'**_**I'm only doing what's best for you. You shouldn't have bitten the forbidden fruit. It bites back.'**_

She flushed the toilet, washed her mouth out and walked out of the bathroom. She went to the living room where Seto and Mokuba had been reviewing the teen's homework and sat down on her husband's lap. She sighed and he asked, "Are you going to answer my question?"

"I'm pregnant."

Mokuba grinned in pure happiness while Seto was skeptical. "How do you know?"

"Kitty told me. It does reside close to there."

"The all-knowing Biju. I'm surprised it let you even get close to me, with how it threatened my life last time."

"What are you talking about, Nii-sama? What's a 'biju'?"

Seto nodded to Misao, who explained, "In the Elemental Countries, there are nine Biju, or 'tailed beasts', monstrously huge animals with tails numbering from one to nine. The only ones I know of are the Kyubi, the Hachibi and the Nibi. Each ninja village has been attacked through the ages by these beasts, and so catastrophic were the effects that they were considered natural disasters. To control and contain such demons, the strongest ninjas concocted methods to seal them into humans, as containers for the beasts, known as 'Jinchuriki'. For hundreds of years this has gone on, and each village 'tamed' a certain number, save one. The Kyubi was the most dangerous, until seventeen years ago, when it was sealed inside a newborn child, which cost the leader's life. Yet, also seventeen years ago, the Nibi was stolen from another village and sealed inside a newborn child as well…me. I don't know how it could've been stolen, or how difficult it was to seal, but it was successful."

She lifted her shirt and began to form chakra. A seal exactly like Naruto's was revealed, and she smiled grimly. "This eight tetragram seal keeps it inside my body, but I can use its powers, which are so immense that only certain types of ninjas can handle them. The wrong person's body would be overwhelmed and the death is…messy. Even summoning the cloak with one tail is enough to level a small forest, let alone two or the Nibi's true form. _That_ is how I survived the fall from the blimp: the Nibi used its chakra to cling to the fabric of it and woke me before its chakra ran out. I then used my chakra to climb to the top deck, even if I was badly injured."

"If you're so powerful, why did you have to leave that place?"

"I'm being hunted by an enemy who can rip it out of my body."

"Is that so bad?"

"It's been bonded to me since birth. If it were to be removed, I would die."

An awkward silence ruled until Misao had to run to the bathroom again.

* * *

Four months passed, and on this particular day, Seto and Misao had a small...disagreement.

"I'm _not_ going!"

"Misao, I'm not arguing with you on this one. You _have to go_."

"No!"

Misao clung to one of the doors leading to the front of the Kaiba Mansion. Seto was attempting to pry her off, but her grip was unrelenting. A limo sat on the curving driveway, and the driver and Isono were tapping their fingers impatiently.

"Will you tell me _why_ you're so adamant? You didn't complain before."

"_That_ was because I didn't know the _primitive_ methods of your 'doctors' have for treating people. _Never again_!"

"This is the _only_ option you have, Misao. You've been vomiting constantly for the past four months, you've dropped weight to dangerous levels, we _have_ to know the case of _why_ your body keeps doing this. A normal pregnancy isn't like this, so you _have_ to see a doctor."

"I want a medical ninja to look at me, not some medieval witch doctor who uses physical objects to treat patients!"

"Your doctors don't use bandages and medicine?"

"That's beside the point!"

"Sometimes you make no sense. _Please_ let go of the door before you break it. Whatever it is you're afraid of, I can make sure you don't have to look at it."

She slowly let go and scowled. "_Promise_?"

"Promise."

She walked with him to the limo and once they were inside, she whispered in his ear, "I _hate_ needles."

"Did something happen?"

"Oka-san was an expert at throwing senbon, and while I was training with her as a child, I ended up looking like a porcupine."

"That was traumatizing to you?"

"No, it was her taking them out one by one."

"How long were they?"

"Eight to ten inches. Oka-san preferred the longer ones."

"That should've killed you!"

"Jinchuriki, remember? Kitty boosts my healing exponentially."

"The needles that the doctor uses are _tiny_ in comparison. You won't even feel it."

"You'd better be right or I'll hit _you_ when I lash out." **A/N: ROFL**

The doctor came into the room and smiled. "So, let's see what we're in for today. Continuous vomiting for four months straight, drastic weight loss... This _is_ serious, especially since you're pregnant, Kaiba-san."

"Especially with twins," Misao tacked on, which surprised Seto so much he stared at her in shock.

"How did you know?"

" 'Mother's' intuition," she answered while gesturing to where her seal was.

_**'Yeah, even though you could've spilled the beans before this. He looks like he's going to faint,'**_ the Nibi commented snidely. _**'I'd actually get a laugh out of that one.'**_

_'Long time no hear, Kitty. Are you still mad that I've planned to stay here until I give birth?'_

_**'Yes, even if I've had time to brood over it. I **_**was**_** your best friend until you decided to do this stupid two-timing stunt on Itachi. Are you going to do this **_**every**_** time?!'**_

_'It's not my fault Itachi sent me away for my protection! What was I supposed to do? Go back to the orphanage and be a good girl? That would've been _really_ fun. You hated it as much as I did! I came here because I have friends here, someone I love, and a permanent home! If I'm in danger, I retreat to a place of safety! Have you noticed there have been no attacks since we arrived? That must be because the pharaoh defeated the dark one! This place is _infinitely_ safer than the other! Why _wouldn't_ I come here?!'_

_**'It is equally unsafe for you, because the ultimate temptation is here.'**_

_'I can be in love with more than one person at once! Seto and Itachi will _never_ meet, so they'll never find out I'm married to them both!' _**A/N: Oh Misao, Misao... *shakes head***_  
_

_**'If they do, I won't be surprised if Itachi tears Kaiba Seto to pieces.'**_

_'If I have to, I'd throw myself between them. I _won't_ choose one or the other.'_

_**'Any way you look at it, you're having an affair with Kaiba Seto. You're cheating on your real husband.'**_

_'Shut up and leave me alone.'_

Misao huffed as she came back to the real world, just as the doctor announced, "Now I need to draw some blood from you to run some tests—Why are you hitting your husband, Kaiba-san?!"

As soon as the mix-color-haired young woman saw the needle, she lashed out, and as promised, she sucker punched him in the stomach. The wind was knocked out of him, and he croaked, "Don't worry, doctor. I deserved that. Misao, look at me while the doctor does this."

"You could've warned me before, then I wouldn't have hit you." **A/N: ROFL ROFL ROFL, etc. Heck, let's call in the rofl copter for that one! I LOVE IT!**

He saw the terror in her eyes and knew her "fight or flight" reflex had been triggered. Since she couldn't run, she wanted to fight her way out. He put an arm around her waist and murmured, "I'm here, you don't have to be afraid."

She shivered as she squeezed her eyes shut. She waited for the pain, but only heard the doctor say, "All done. You did well, Kaiba-san."

Seto smiled at her when her eyes popped open in surprise. "You didn't feel a thing, did you?"

Her violet eyes glanced at her arm and saw there was a band-aid on it. _'Wow. It's such a difference from what I experienced with Oka-san. I'll never trust my own experiences without a second opinion again.'_

_**'And yet you don't trust mine anymore. What kind of hypocrite are you?'**_

_'I followed my heart and it led me to both Itachi and Seto. They're so alike, yet so different. They're the type of guy I've come to admire. I'm sure that neither of them would leave me and I won't leave them, either. Even if I have to keep this secret forever.'_

_**'That's just peachy.'**_

* * *

A month later, a phone call came with the results of the blood test. Isono came into the room where Misao was relaxing and announced, "A phone call for you, Misao-sama."

She took the portable phone and put it to her ear. "Hello? Kaiba Misao speaking."

"_This is Kenchiro from the doctor's office. We have the results from your blood test, Kaiba-san._"

"Kenchiro-san, thank you for calling. What are the results?"

"_I'm afraid they're not good. You seem to be deficient of most of the vital nutrients which are healthy for a pregnant woman, Kaiba-san. Since you don't have them, the embryos are sucking what they need from anywhere they can, thus the extreme weight loss and vomiting. Your body is dying very quickly, so I insist that you get back here right away so we can begin feeding you intravenously._"

She nodded and replied, "I'll do that immediately. Thank you, goodbye."

After heaving an enormous sigh, she called, "Isono?"

He came back into the room. "Yes, Misao-sama?"

"Get a limo right away. I need to get back to the hospital."

"Of course."

* * *

Misao found herself strapped down on a hospital bed when Seto came into the room, a worried look on his face. He rushed over and took her hand. "How long do you think they'll keep you here for?"

"I don't know, but it might be until I deliver the twins."

"Four months..." He glared at her stomach. "You'd think your renter would help you with this."

"It's been getting angrier and angrier with me each time I talk to it. It doesn't like you, never has."

"Why? What did I do that pissed it off so much?"

She smiled sadly. "It isn't you." _'It's what I've done, not you.'_

_**'If you'd stop this, I'd give you all the healing chakra you need to get over this, but as long as you're stubborn, you'll be like this every pregnancy that has **_**his**_** child.'**_

_'That's just cruel, punishing an unborn child for its parent's actions.'_

_**'It's poetic justice if you give in before the child is born.'**_

_'I won't. You're trying something that isn't fair.'_

_**'Pick one or the other, but either way, you're breaking a heart.'**_

_'If I let you have your way, you'd have me choose Itachi.'_

_**'He can take care of you so much better than this pathetic pretty boy you've set your eyes on. If he were thrust in the world I'm from, he wouldn't last a second against what Itachi can dispatch without blinking an eye.'**_

_'That kind of strength is needed for that world. Here, to protect me, all he needs, he has.'_

_**'Bodyguards don't count. Itachi could snap him in two like a piece of candy.'**_

_'Physical power is one thing, but the power of status and money is another. I'm no social climber, but I've struck gold with Seto. He's one of the richest people in Japan and he just happened to fall in love with me.'_

_**'Itachi is the heir of the Uchiha Clan! He has high standing **_**and**_** could give you anything you want! Why couldn't you have kept it simple by being Itachi's husband and being Kaiba Seto's lover?!'**_

_'It would've ended up like this sooner or later anyways.'_

_**'At least you wouldn't have landed up tethered to a IV pole in a hospital! I'd help you through it and you would've been fine through any pregnancy, whether from your lover or husband!'**_

_'Oh, so it's because I _married_ Seto that you're so upset? You wouldn't have cared if I'd cheated just because I wasn't mortally bound to him? That's so two-faced.'_

_**'I'm very picky with who my host chooses as their mate. I was like this with all the others that have been my Jinchuriki, so no, this isn't odd behavior.'**_

_'Why don't you change now and support me through whatever I do? I thought cats didn't care who they were with, as long as they had offspring.'_

_**'Every one of the Biju are very loyal to the first mate their Jinchuriki selects, so it doesn't matter what animal they are. It's in my very core to resist this.'**_

_'You're not some animal, you're sentient. Get over it and give me your chakra or so help me I'll put a seal on my body so you _can't_ be resurrected again when I die.'_

_**'Just hot air. You don't know such a technique.'**_

_'I could find someone who does.'_

The Nibi growled, but answered, _**'I don't want to be separated from you prematurely by sabotaging you, but you'd better be careful or else you'll **_**have**_** to choose, no matter what. If you slip up, I throw my head back and laugh.'**_

_'Thanks.'_

She felt a rush of energy as the Nibi released its chakra back into her coils again, but it would take a good while for the damage that had been done to heal, even accelerated. She smiled and Seto asked, "Did you convince it to lend you some?"

"For now, we have a truce. Kitty doesn't want me to die, so it gave in."

He looked at the hand he was holding and his eyes widened. "This is impossible..."

She looked down and stared as her body gained back its weight like weeks of healing had been put in fast-forward. _'So the weight loss was because of the cut-off chakra? Wow, this is kinda creepy.'_

When the transformation was over, she looked like a healthy pregnant woman again. The babies even started to kick, soft brushes that made her gasp in amazement. "Seto, feel."

He placed a hand on her baby bump and his face lit up in awe. "I'd never felt anything before this. Was this because they were so weak from the lack of nourishment?"

"Yeah. I'm sure with the normal chakra flow again, they'll be a very active pair." _'Thanks again, Kitty. The doctor said that it was odd the babies didn't move much.'_

_**'A lack of chakra from the mother will do that. They need as much chakra as they do nourishment, since I'm sure both of them will have the potential to become ninjas.'**_

_'Even civilians have chakra, although a negligible amount compared to those ninja-bred and born. My chakra amount is so large because of your presence inside my body that even powerful ninjas can't compare. It's no wonder that I was taught more things that didn't require precise chakra control. To be honest, I sucked compared to the other kids in the clan around my age, according to Oka-san, during the first years of my training, but now I'm right up there with the pros.'_

_**'Only that Itachi thinks you can't protect yourself and tells you to leave the instant there's trouble with the Akatsuki. Does he think so little of your abilities?'**_

_'He doesn't want to worry about me when he needs all his concentration on the battlefield. I wonder what he'll think when I come back with a baby on each arm.'_

_**'I doubt that would be wise. With this first pregnancy, I think you should escape right before you go into labor and have them in the orphanage. With how you are, it would be better if both your husbands believe they're childless for the time being.'**_

_'But the twins aren't orphans!'_

_**'They will have one less parent if Itachi finds out you're cheating on him with a certain brown-haired CEO. And one other thing: Do not bring Mokuba with you to the other world to meet Sasuke, **_**ever**_**.'**_

_'Why?'_

_**'If you do, then if they get to talking, something might **_**slip**_**...and they'll find out their older brothers are married to the same girl, even if Sasuke's in a jealous rage because he had a crush on you.'**_

_'Hopefully he's calmed down by now. He's had fourteen months, eighteen months by the time I get back, to get over and act like his age, not like he's a child.'_

_**'You've seen how he holds onto things, so he might not cool off until you talk to him. For all we know, the Fourth Great Ninja War is over and your brother-in-law is trying to murder his brother for stealing the girl he likes.'**_

_'If that happened, then I would be ticked off, you would flip your lid, and we'd incinerate him. I'd also call Itachi a wimp for letting himself get killed by his little brother.'_

_**'I see we agree on how we'd deal with him.'**_

* * *

The rest of her second trimester went well, as well as her third, but when she was overdue, Seto started getting antsy. He paced as she rested on the couch in the home theater they had, even if he'd come in to watch a movie to distract himself from this very issue.

"Misao, this _can't_ be natural. The doctor says that because of the time you were weakened, the babies' development was pushed back significantly, but do you think it could be a _whole month_?"

"Seto, sit down, you're blocking the screen with your incessant pacing."

He turned to face her, fear in his eyes. "_Why_ aren't you concerned with this?! These are our children I'm worrying about! What if they're sick in there and need to come, even if your labor hasn't started?! What if the Nibi's been messing with its chakra flow again?!"

_**'I resent that.'**_

_'I _am_ at ten months now, Kitty. Is this _normal_?'_

_**'Yes. Your due date is tomorrow, instead of last month. All female Jinchuriki experience this with each pregnancy, ten months instead of nine. Because of it, you have extra swelling in your abdominal area, so you look bigger than you should at this time, even if you've trained as normal to keep your body trim.'**_

_'Yeah, I look like I'm carrying triplets, according to the doctor, but I'm just as mobile as ever, even if my body does complain every time after a nap or in the morning, because my bones settle into awkward positions while I sleep from the weight.'_

_**'You **_**are**_** carrying twins on your first pregnancy. What I'm surprised about is your lack of swelling in your ankles and legs. They should be, they were on my other female hosts, even with one.'**_

_'I'm a tough cookie, what can I say?'_

_**'Well, they also relaxed more and didn't have as much strength by the end of the gestation period. You were wiser than that, so you have less soreness and more mobility. Are you going to tell him about how this is normal?'**_

_'Sure, why not? It's not like it'll change anyways.'_

_**'Remember what we planned on.'**_

_'Of course.'_ "Seto, I just talked to Kitty, and it says that ten-month pregnancies are normal for female Jinchuriki, so you can calm down and stop worrying."

He sighed and plopped onto the couch next to her. "All this worrying and loss of sleep for nothing. Why didn't you ask it earlier?!"

"I was confident that Kitty wouldn't let any harm come to the babies once it promised to give me back its chakra. If they weren't born yet, there had to be a good reason."

"So your due date is soon, since you're going to be at the ten-month mark tomorrow."

"Yeah."

* * *

The next morning, she did her normal stretches so she could actually get out of bed and do everything herself, which she liked instead of being babied like Seto had been doing the past month. She went about her morning routine and as she descended the stairs, Mokuba called out, "Misao—MISAO!"

He'd screamed her name because when she'd turned to greet him, her foot slipped on the stairs and she fell backwards all the way down, landing with a sickening thud at the bottom. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. He flew down the stairs and fell to his knees at her side. "Misao!"

Isono came running and gaped for a moment before ordering the other suit, "Go awake Kaiba-sama! Misao-sama's fallen down the grand staircase!"

"Yes sir!"

"What happened exactly, Mokuba-sama?!"

"I called out to Misao as she was walking down the stairs and she slipped as she turned her head! It's all my fault! Oh Misao! Don't die!"

Misao choked back a gasp as she croaked, "Seto...need...Seto..."

Mokuba began sobbing, even if he was seventeen now. "Misao, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

She smiled faintly. "Not...your..."

"Yes it is! I know your balance has been off with the twins so big!" he wailed, before freezing as he realized something. "What if the twins just died inside you?! Nii-sama's gonna _kill_ me!"

There was a loud bang and rushed footsteps as Seto sprinted down the hallway and stairs to her side, eyes wild with panic. "MISAO!"

"The paramedics have been called, Kaiba-sama! We shouldn't move her, for we don't know what this fall has done to her!" Isono warned.

The look in Seto's eyes was so heartbroken that Misao whispered, "Seto...don't...need...doctor..."

"Yes you do! Don't be stubborn this time!"

"Need...medical...ninja..."

His eyes widened in realization. "Yes...yes! They could heal you and deliver the twins without causing further trauma! Go now! I'll be waiting for you to get back!"

She gave a weak nod before she thought, _'Josie's Adoption Center!'_

* * *

And there you have it, another chapter done! Who's guessing if the twins are gonna be girls or boys? Or one of each, since they're fraternal?

Please review!


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Yu-Gi-Oh!

So what's Misao gonna do, now that she's out of Seto's reach?

* * *

In the blink of an eye, Misao was lying on her own bed in the room she'd grown up in. She sat up immediately and a sad frown came to her face. _'Sorry Seto, but I had to fake falling and getting injured, or else you would've never let me go. With the cushion of chakra beneath me, I didn't even bruise from that fall, and we ninjas are masters of deception.'_

_**'Even I feel slightly guilty after seeing such fear in his eyes for your welfare. That man truly loves you.'**_

_'I knew that.'_

_**'Do you want me to induce your labor now?'**_

_'Yeah, that would be best.'_

A slow, searing ache spread through her back and she gritted her teeth against the pain until it passed. She then got up and walked to the door, opening it and meeting a surprised Mrs. Josie right outside of it.

"**Missy?! How?!**"

Misao held her stomach and whimpered, "**Please help me...the baby...**"

"**Oh! Come quickly! We have to get you to the Mothers' Room!**"

* * *

Only a few hours passed until she gave birth to the first baby, a little girl who looked just like Seto. She smiled and whispered, "**Nanase Kaiba...**"

"**That isn't your last—**"

"**I know, it's the last name of the man who's baby this is.**"

"**Okay...**"

An hour after, Misao birthed another girl, this one looking just like Itachi. She laughed at the irony and breathed out, "**Oki Uchiha.**"

"**Now I'm confused.**"

"**That's my mom's last name, and I looked it up when I met her family. Don't worry.**"

"**Why not give them both the father's last name?**"

"**That's my business.**"

* * *

Only a few days after, Misao was completely recovered from giving birth, even the huge stomach she had was gone, thanks to the Nibi. She smiled as she flexed, then kissed Nanase's forehead as the baby girl slept. "Goodbye for a while, my baby. I'll come to give you to your daddy soon."

She then lifted Oki and shushed her newborn as she began to fuss from being moved. "Shhh...you'll be all right. You're going to go see _your_ daddy. He'll be delighted to see you after all this time."

_**'Even if he didn't even know of her conception.'**_

_'Yes, but it's better this way, and you'd better not do this to me again. I want to be able to have the comfort of having the baby's father with me when I give birth next time.'_

_**'Of course, but you'd better not travel while pregnant again, either.'**_

_'I wouldn't, since if I get pregnant again, I'll stay with the baby's father until I give birth. It's only natural.'_

She left a note to Mrs. Josie that she'd come back as soon as possible to pick up Nanase, she concentrated on the energies of the Nibi and vanished from that dimension.

* * *

Short chapter, just about her having the twins. How many of you really thought she was hurt during the last chapter? *raises eyebrows*

Please review!


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Yu-Gi-Oh!

Have you had enough yet? No? Well then, let the torture continue!

* * *

Misao opened her eyes to see she was standing in the midst of the Allied Ninja Forces Camp. _'I arrived at the opportune time, it looks like everyone's packing up to leave. The war must be over.'_

She went over to the nearest ninja and asked, "Where can I find Uchiha Itachi?"

"He's at the medical unit, where else would he be?"

_'Medical unit...? Why would he be there?'_

_**'Maybe one of his parents or Sasuke got injured and is still recovering. We'll have to go see.'**_

_'Yeah, let's go.'_

She hurried (although she kept the bounce out of her step so she wouldn't wake Oki again) to the medical unit, searching for her husband and found him sitting next to one of the beds, his arm in a sling. She came over and saw Sasuke covered in bandages under his simple clothes, his eyes open as he looked at his older brother.

"I'm sure I look a fright underneath all these bandages, Nii-san," he stated, a smirk on his face.

"You shouldn't have taken that hit for me, Ototo," Itachi replied in a tight voice.

"You have a wife, and your arm was broken already. I wasn't about to let you get killed before you could see your first kid."

Itachi didn't answer, but Sasuke looked up to see Misao in front of him.

"Perfect timing. Come cheer up Nii-san."

Misao sat next to Itachi and leaned against him. He put his uninjured arm around her, bringing her in close. "Misao..."

"You kept your promise, but only at the cost to such injury to Sasuke. If you'd died, I would've brought you back just to kill you again, and your daughter would've never known her father."

He looked over and a soft smile came to his face. "You had a girl... No wonder you didn't come back for so long. I'm sure Otou-san will be severely displeased."

"Fugaku can go die, as far as I care. The only reason he cares about me now is because I'm your wife."

"You didn't keep up your transformation."

"Of course not, it's not like it matters anymore. The Akatsuki has been destroyed and I'm safe. I'm sure whoever was trying to capture me just about died from the frustration at not being able to find me. Did Naruto and the Hachibi survive?"

"Yes, they did. I'm sure Naruto will be over the moon that you're back. He hasn't been able to see you since you first left."

"So it's been...twenty-two months. Wow, that is a long time. He was in hiding, after all. I'm sure that he was frustrated once he found out that everyone was keeping him out of the way so he could be protected."

"MISAO-CHAN!"

Misao winced. "Why is _everyone_ screaming my name lately?"

Oki woke with a start and began to cry, the new parents instantly turning to her. Itachi stroked her steel-colored hair, while Misao shushed her and talked in a low voice. Their efforts were in vain as Naruto leaped on Misao's back, hugging her around the shoulders.

"Misao-chan! You're finally back!"

Misao sighed and hissed, "You're scaring the baby, so would you stop yelling?"

He looked over her shoulder as the wailing infant and blushed. "Sorry, Misao-chan. Is it a boy or a girl?"

"A little girl. I named her Oki."

"Give her to her daddy so I can hug you properly!"

"Okay."

Itachi took her with pleasure and proceeded to calm his firstborn down. Misao got up and hugged Naruto, before she whispered, "Can you keep a secret?"

He scowled. "Why? I'm sure by the end of the war, there aren't any secrets."

"Please? It's important."

He sighed and nodded. "Fine. What is it?"

"I'm actually a Jinchuriki too."

His eyes almost popped out of their sockets as he gasped, "No way! That can't be!"

"Actually, it makes perfect sense. The Uchiha are known to be able to control Biju, and almost eighteen years ago, the Nibi was stolen from Kumogakure. I was born, my mom was banished from the clan, and I vanished that very same year, and then I was shunned when I came back the first time by my mom's clan, to protect my identity so it wouldn't be stolen back. Whenever the Akatsuki attacked, I disappeared again. Also, with all the ninjas searching for the Nibi Jinchuriki, it was never found, even after so long. It all fits."

"Why are you telling me?"

"Now you know why we hit it off so well once Sakura let go of me. I know what you've been through and I think, on the subconscious level, we knew that we shared a similar fate and bonded."

He held her closer and smiled. "Now I know why your past was so similar to mine and your own clan ignored you. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"It's coming from this direction!"

_**'That's my cue to disappear.'**_

A group of Kumo ninjas, including the Raikage, ran through the rows of patients being readied to move and stopped behind Naruto. The large man looked at the blonde Jinchuriki and glared at his subordinates. "This is the_ Kyubi_ Jinchuriki, you morons. We're looking for the _Nibi_."

"I swear I felt it in close proximity with the Kyubi!"

"Fine, we'll question whoever's here!"

During their distraction, Misao had transformed to her Uchiha form. She blinked in confusion and pointed out, "I thought the Nibi Jinchuriki has been missing all this time, Raikage-sama."

The massive Kage frowned and demanded, "Who are you?"

"I'm Uchiha Misao, Uchiha Itachi's wife."

The chakra sensor closest to her frowned. "You have an oddly-large chakra capacity for an Uchiha. Are you gifted like your husband?"

She nodded. "I've trained hard to be as near to equal power to him so I wouldn't drag him down."

"I saw you at your wedding, Misao-san, but as soon as the fighting started, you didn't report to your squadron!" the Raikage shouted as he recalled who she was. "That's _very_ suspicious! Explain yourself or we'll take you in for interrogation."

Misao flushed as she murmured, "I found out I was pregnant, Raikage-sama... I didn't want to risk hurting my baby..."

Itachi stood and walked over to Misao, revealing the calmed Oki, who warily looked at what was around her. "It's true, Raikage-sama. She gave birth all by herself because there was no medical ninjas to help her until afterwards, they were so swamped with casualties from the battlefield."

"Hmph! I see your alibi is solid! The only other who could possibly be the Nibi is _him_."

The three Konoha ninjas turned their heads to see that Sasuke had been accused now.

"It's perfect! The second-born son of the clan head is seventeen, almost eighteen now! Precise timing and it would cause your parents to be unstoppable in your clan with a Jinchuriki son! Check him for any seals!"

"My little brother's been severely injured, Raikage-sama!" Itachi protested. "Any jostling will only make him worse! How could _he_ be the Nibi Jinchuriki?! He's never displayed any signs—"

"SILENCE!" the Raikage roared. "Your protests only prove that you're trying to hide something! His significant increase in chakra has only proved that he's been enhanced by an external force! Once he returned after being a rogue, he had a chakra inhibitor placed on him not for punishment, but to mask the Nibi's chakra!"

The lesser Kumo ninjas lifted bandages and shifted limbs, especially around Sasuke's middle, where most Jinchuriki had their seal. The search was thorough, and Sasuke said nothing, even though he was innocent.

"There's no signs of a Jinchuriki seal being placed on him, Raikage-sama."

The Raikage growled. "It must've disappeared. We'll search for it elsewhere."

"But the chakra is nowhere to be found now!"

"It pops in and out! We'll catch it eventually!"

Once they were gone, Sasuke muttered, "Why would they accuse _me_ of being the Nibi Jinchuriki? Sure there was my age and increase in chakra, but those were merely coincidences."

Itachi shook his head. "You're safe from them now, since they couldn't find anything."

Naruto muttered, "You'd better be careful from now on, Misao-chan."

She nodded. "I didn't think they'd catch onto me that fast."

Itachi then put Oki back into her arms and his around her waist. He breathed into her ear, "That was lucky that you had an alibi like that, or else they would've searched you like they did Sasuke and found the seal. They also would've found you more suspicious if you hadn't transformed. Now, we'll have to go tell Otou-san and Oka-san you've returned and you've had a little girl."

* * *

Fugaku and Mikoto were in a council meeting when the younger married couple entered the building.

"Their searches for the Nibi have been thorough, but they've found nothing," the clan head announced calmly. "We have the advantage as long as we don't breathe a word about it, as we always have. All who were adults at the time the Nibi was stolen and sealed know who the Jinchuriki is and that it is still in Konoha's hands, now more than ever. Our enemies have been defeated, and the villages have taken back their Biju, but Kumo still searches for their stolen one, even if they have the Hachibi. They will _never_ find it and take it back."

There was a confirming murmur as Itachi stepped through the members of his clan to his parents. Fugaku noticed and stood. "So she's finally come back after all these months, safe and sound. She also bears a grandchild for me."

Misao bowed a little and greeted, "Fugaku-sama, Mikoto-sama, I'm back. Say hello to your granddaughter, Oki."

"A girl? Well then, you'll have to have a boy next."

_'At least Itachi didn't say that when he saw our daughter.'_

* * *

After a few months, everyone was settled into their hidden villages and Konoha had been rebuilt. One thing had changed, though: ninjas of every village were welcome to enter, travel and intermix, so commerce and international relations were at an all-time high.

Only one thing was strained when it came to relations with Kumo and Konoha: the ever-present yet elusive Nibi Jinchuriki that kept hidden.

"Itachi, I'm sick of being chased all the time. You have to admit it, they're getting better at tracking me all the time. Our clan can't play dumb forever. It's gonna be found out sooner or later, probably sooner."

Itachi nodded as he held the sleeping Oki. "What do you suggest we do? Otou-san and Oka-san will sign a death warrant on your head if you disclose this secret."

"I've only put up with them because they're Oka-san's relatives and I married you. I owe them nothing because they did this to me out of sheer hatred towards my mom. They don't even care about her, even after I brought back her bones and gave her a proper funeral. All they want is power for their clan and keeping me as their _pet_." She spat out the last word as she stood from her position on the floor. "I'm Uchiha Misao, not the Uchiha Clan's lapdog. I'm going to tell Tsunade-sama, so you can go or stay, it's your choice."

She walked out of the house and canceled her transformation, her violet eyes burning with determination. She was unsurprised when Itachi followed her without hesitation.

"I can't let you face the wolves alone, even if Tsunade-sama is fair-minded."

"Thank you."

* * *

They arrived at the Hokage Tower in no time, and were aware that they'd been followed. Misao bowed as she greeted, "Afternoon, Tsunade-sama."

The brown-eyed blonde woman looked up and smiled as she returned, "Good afternoon, you two. How can I help you?"

Itachi placed a hand on his wife's shoulder. "Misao has something to tell you."

Tsunade sat forward and gestured for the teenage girl to continue.

"Tsunade-sama, I'm—"

Out of nowhere, a squad of Uchiha ninjas burst through the door, only for Misao to quickly apologize, "I'm sorry for the damage to your office," before she summoned her demon cloak. She pinned two of her clanmates with her clawed hands, while the others were wrapped in her tails. She turned to Tsunade and asked, "Do you see what I was trying to tell you?"

Tsunade looked shocked, but nodded. "So _you're_ the Nibi Jinchuriki. It's fascinating that your clan was the one who did this, all without the Sandaime, Yondaime and Godaime finding out."

Itachi held out a scroll. "Misao retrieved this, which is a full account of what happened nineteen years ago. With this action, I'm sure Misao's life will be in danger once again, but from her own clan. They'd planned on using her for power and perhaps to help in getting one of their own in the Hokage seat. She might be the Nibi, but she's powerful in her own right."

"Now I have to smooth things over with Kumo, since we've found the Nibi Jinchuriki. I'll give them all this information and present you to them. I have no choice but to, but you'll be protected from retaliation from the Uchiha Clan until we decide what to do with you. I'll also imprison these four for attacking you unprovoked and if the Uchiha want them back, they'll have to make a deal."

* * *

Over the next two weeks that it took for the Raikage to arrive in Konoha, many things happened, all of which were negative.

One: the Uchiha Clan _demanded_ that their heir and his family be returned to their jurisdiction, which was denied.

Two: the Uchiha Clan declared Misao a traitor and sent a plethora of assassins to kill her, which failed miserably.

Three: kidnappers stole Oki, which also failed in the end, because Itachi caught them in the act and set them on fire.

Four: the above failures triggered the Uchiha Clan's ultimatum that if Itachi and his family didn't surrender, they'd be disowned, which Tsunade tore up and kicked the messengers sky high.

Five: the actions of the Hokage caused the Uchiha Clan to declare war on the rest of the village, which was foiled by the stronger Konoha forces and they were all arrested and placed in a high-security prison.

Six: the sudden lack of police force caused a rise in civilian crime, which caused Tsunade to put some of her best ninjas on the new police force to retaliate.

Seven: the lack of high-level ninjas resulted in a drop of income for Konoha and it was now in debt.

"Isn't this just great? All because the Uchiha Clan was petty and had an unquenchable thirst for power."

Tsunade sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Misao, you're not making this better. I just want to get this over with so I can get back to my _real_ work."

Naruto paced like a caged tiger (he'd volunteered to help protect Misao and her family) and Sasuke stood against a wall with his brother and sister-in-law. Misao held Oki, who sucked on a pacifier with gusto.

"Here I thought you'd be more annoyed at Naruto for wearing a hole in your office floor," Sasuke drawled as he played with his niece's hair.

"I'm trying my best to ignore him."

_'This is a fine kettle of fish.'_

_**'It only gets better. You're pregnant again.'**_

_'WHAT?! So soon?!'_

_**'You're a Jinchuriki. Every Jinchuriki has a significant boost of fertility and you're no exception. In fact, because of me, your active love life will ensure you becoming with child one hundred percent.'**_

_'This is crazy! What if I have to travel while I'm still pregnant?! Seto'll be a little more than skeptical about how I'm pregnant, especially when I hadn't even given birth the last time we had sex!'_

_**'You're a ninja.'**_

_'Oh yeah.'_

As she came out of her daze, the Raikage and his entourage arrived. He crossed his massive arms over his equally-huge chest and raised his eyebrows. "So, Tsunade, you said it was urgent. What did I need to travel all this way for?"

"The Nibi Jinchuriki has finally been found."

"Do you have it in a secure location?!"

"Yes. She's right here."

The Raikage turned his head to see Misao walking over. "_This _is the Nibi's Jinchuriki? She looks mixed blood."

Misao bowed. "I'm Uchiha Misao, Raikage-sama."

"_You_! So it _was_ you!"

"I had no choice but to hide at that time, because my clan ordered me to. They wanted me to be their tool to help them seize power in Konoha."

"So the wedding was a plot to tie you down into your birth clan."

"Correct, even though I love my husband with all my heart. At this time I'm free because the Uchiha Clan has been put under arrest because they declared war on the rest of Konoha to keep the secret that _they_ were the ones who stole the Nibi nineteen years ago and sealed it into me before putting myself and my mother in exile."

Tsunade handed a copy of the scroll that Misao had given her to the Raikage. "All of the proof lies within, Raikage-sama."

"Words are frail in comparison to a practical demonstration. I want to see with my eyes that she's one of three remaining Jinchuriki in this world."

Misao looked to the Hokage and when she was given a nod of consent, she gestured to the door. "If you'll follow me, I'll demonstrate."

* * *

They traveled to a training field and she didn't even have to really concentrate as she called on the Nibi's chakra. The bubbling red cloak that reflected the Nibi's true form surrounded her, before she let the Nibi's real form surround her as she fell on all fours, turning to the Kumo ninjas.

"I see you're convinced now, Raikage-sama."

He nodded, as she turned back to herself. "As you carry the Nibi, you belong in Kumogakure no Sato and be instated as a ninja. Of course, your husband and child would be welcome to move there with you."

Misao frowned internally as she realized that her plan was backfiring on her. _'Move to Kumo indefinitely? But then I'd never see my friends again and be watched like a hawk for my own safety.'_

_**'You can still claim that you belong to Konoha because you have Uchiha blood and have ties to it through marriage.'**_

"Raikage-sama, as honored as I am to be offered this, I was born in Konohagakure no Sato and I married a Konoha ninja."

"I _won't_ let the Nibi belong to Konoha just because it was sealed into an Uchiha child!"

"You won't have to," Tsunade interrupted. "How about we compromise by giving her ninja status in both our villages? That way, there won't be any conflict and she'll be able to come and go as she pleases. I don't want this time of peace to end over a mere squabble over a single Uchiha girl."

"Tsunade, if you _swear_ not to _ever_ seal the Nibi into another Konoha ninja, I'll agree to this."

"I swear, Raikage-sama."

The pair shook hands and Misao sighed. _'Thank you, Tsunade-sama. You saved my life.'_

"It will take a matter of months to settle all the nuances, but I believe this will work."

"I believe it will."

Itachi put his arm around Misao and murmured, "This would be the opportune time to leave, since they're discussing politics now."

She nodded and whispered back, "What of the rest of our clan? I'm the reason they're all imprisoned. I wish I could disappear, so there wouldn't be any reason to fight."

"If that's what you want, I'm going with you."

"I had no doubt you'd follow me."

"And I'm sure that Sasuke will insist on coming with us."

"Of course."

* * *

Confused? I usually change the chapter when she travels to the other dimension, so what could be going on here? *grins*

Please review!


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Yu-Gi-Oh!

Oh yeah, now here it comes, Misao's troubles will double! *evil grin*

* * *

In ten minutes everything was readied and the Uchiha brothers grasped her hands. In the blink of an eye, they traveled to Domino City (it would've been impossible for them to adjust to the other dimension because of the language barrier alone) and she sighed when she found that the others were okay.

Itachi looked around and Sasuke copied him, their Sharingan active.

"There's nothing to assess, this is a world purely of civilians. No ninjas, at least not like us."

"This place...it's completely foreign to me," Sasuke commented.

"The only place I could compare it with is Amegakure no Sato. All the buildings are towering and made of metal," Itachi added.

"This is Domino City, my other home when I'm not in Konohagakure no Sato. Put away the hitae-ate, we're civilians from now on. Since I know this place better than you, follow me, we'll make a stop at the library first."

Just as they started walking, a loud buzzing came from Misao's pocket. She had said item out and next to her face in a split second, and smiled. "Oh, it's one of my friends." She flipped open the black cell phone with a Blue-Eyes White Dragon charm and put it to her ear. "Hello?"

"You're back so soon this time, Misao!" Mokuba's voice exclaimed from the other end. "It's only been three months! Are you okay? Are the _twins_ okay?!"

"Unfortunately one didn't survive, Mo. The other's fine and I'll bring her over as soon as I can."

"Nii-sama's been anxious all this time about you! I thought he was gonna lose it!"

"He'll be overjoyed to see her. Tell him not to worry anymore, I'm fine."

"I'm so thankful you didn't die from that fall! I couldn't sleep for two days, I was so worried about you! I'll tell Nii-sama your message! I hope to see you soon!"

"You will, bye Mo."

"Bye!"

She hung up and put the phone on ring.

"What is that?" Sasuke asked. "It couldn't be a two-way radio, the buttons aren't the same."

"It's a cell phone," Misao answered as she put it back in her pocket.

" 'Cell phone'?" Itachi prodded.

"It's like a two-way radio, but there's no limit to the distance and who you can contact, as long as they have your number."

All the way to their destination, she explained cell phones and their many uses. She entered the building and took out her wallet. She went to the closest computer and went online. She was swift, so swift she was done by the time Itachi and Sasuke caught up to her, she was done. "I've gotten us a place to settle down. It's not far from here."

"How did you do that so fast? That video screen you were in front of?" Sasuke wondered aloud.

"It's called a computer and I think this'll be a long day of explanations."

* * *

They settled in the small house with all the furnishings and Itachi queried, "How did you get the money for the rent? We don't have any."

"I have a job with lots of benefits," she lied as she put Oki down for her afternoon nap. "That includes enough pay to handle the rent."

"I won't have you earning our keep, Misao. Sasuke and I will work."

"I need to contribute, after feeling useless because of the chakra inhibitor," Sasuke tacked on.

"Fine, I'll help you look for jobs."

* * *

In a couple days both Uchiha men had identities and found jobs in the police force. As soon as they were gone, Misao set up a babysitter and got her other daughter from the orphanage. She traveled to the Kaiba Mansion and Mokuba almost dragged her inside. "I thought you'd come the very same day, Misao! What happened?!"

"I was catching up with my family. We haven't spoken in a while."

"Is that my niece?!"

"Yes, her name is Nanase."

"Nii-sama's not going to let you go for the same amount of time you disappeared for—three months!"

"I can't do that, I have work."

"You got a job?"

"Yeah. It has great benefits."

"You don't need a job when you're married to the CEO of KaibaCorp! Just ask and he'll give you anything!"

"I know, but I have to do something besides sit around. I'll get fat if I don't exercise."

"You'd _never_ get fat," Seto purred as he put his arms around her. "You haven't gotten fat from carrying the twins, so nothing could."

She smiled and turned around in his arms. "How do you know? I'm sure if I got lazy, I'd put on the pounds."

"You're not lazy, are you?"

He leaned in to kiss her and she leaned back. "You're going to squash Nanase."

The elder Kaiba saw his new daughter and held out his arms. Misao placed Nanase in them and he gazed at the sleeping little girl like he'd never seen anything so beautiful.

_'He's fallen in love. Sure he loves me, but this...was instant. Not even Itachi fell in love with his firstborn like this.'_

_**'He also isn't afraid to show his emotions. Itachi doesn't have that luxury.'**_

_'I know. Itachi and Sasuke won't be back until the morning with their shifts. I'll have time to sleep in the same bed as Seto...'_

_**'If you do, shower as soon as you get home.'**_

_'Why?'_

_**'Touching him will make you smell like him, and I doubt Itachi will miss that you smell like the ocean instead of your normal scent.'**_

_'I'm so thankful that I have you, or else I would've been found out a long time ago.'_

_**'It's only beginning. Now that they're in the same dimension, you'll have to be a hundred times more careful. If they ever meet each other, the game is over.'**_

_'With Seto, it'll be a little easier because he's not a ninja, but you're right.'_

_**'Of course I am. I've dealt with difficult cases with my hosts, and a good few of them weren't the sharpest tacks in the box.'**_

_'Thanks for the compliment.'_

_**'If I didn't mock you, you wouldn't know I cared.'**_

_'Shut up.'_

* * *

Misao woke when Seto kissed her goodbye before he went to work, Nanase's bassinet next to her so neither of them would have to go far when the baby woke. She got up and looked into the crib at her firstborn, the chestnut-haired infant sucking on her first two fingers as she slumbered. The mother stroked the soft cheek with an adoring smile before she activated her technique.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu."

A single clone appeared and nodded as Misao used her Body Flicker to travel instantly to her other home, where she dispelled the other clone who'd been taking care of Oki during the night. She got into the shower, and none too soon, for as soon as she rinsed herself off of all scents besides her own, she felt Itachi and Sasuke arrive home from their graveyard shift at the police station. She knew Itachi would be joining her momentarily before he would be taking a short nap to recharge so he could spend time with his wife and child.

"Misao?" he called as he entered the master bedroom and began to take off his uniform.

"I'm in the shower!" she called back softly, as to not wake Oki.

He opened the door and sighed. "Last night's patrol was quiet. How was your night, Misao?"

_'Now for the next group of lies.'_ "It was pretty normal, considering that I only had to work for a few hours. Oki kept me up for most of the night, but other than that, nothing."

The door to the shower opened and Itachi stepped in, kissing her neck before reaching for the soap. "Oki's a good girl, so you must've gotten almost a full night's sleep."

"I have. Um...Itachi, I'm pregnant."

His hands cradled her still-flat stomach and she felt his lips smile at her nape. "So soon after having Oki...you must be tired from getting used to Oki's schedule along with the morning sickness."

"A little."

"Misao, if this continues because of the Nibi, we'll have more children than we can afford in this world. Could you talk to it so you won't have to have more than two at this time?"

"Kitty can hear you, you know. I'm sure she understands." _'Right, Kitty?'_

_**'Of course I do, since having more than two isn't looked well upon in Japan in the first place. I'm sure that I'll have to do the same with Kaiba Seto once you have one more with him as well.'**_

_'Thanks.'_

"Will you be joining me in bed?"

"No, I'll take care of Oki while you rest. I'll also have dinner ready when you wake."

She dressed in a miniskirt and spaghetti strap top before she took Oki and exited the room. She spotted Sasuke eating a loaf of melon bread at the kitchen counter, still in his uniform. He turned his head at her appearance and greeted her with a tired grunt. She rumpled his hair and whispered, "You should go to bed instead of eating. You had a long night, after all."

"Hungry."

She snorted and shook her head with a smile. _'Sasuke's so stubborn. I'm sure he'll wake up with a stomachache later.'_

_**'He's always this way, so let him suffer the consequences.'**_

_'Yeah. He'll learn sooner or later.'_

The doorbell suddenly chimed and both the Uchiha teenagers looked up before Sasuke muttered, "I'll get it."

She nodded and went to the living room, where she spread out a baby blanket and placed Oki in the center, getting out a couple baby toys before taking a rubber duck and squeaking it in front of the three-and-a-half-month-old's face. "Oki, what's this?" she asked in a high-pitched voice. "What is it? Is it your rubber ducky? Huh?"

Oki sucked on her binky and reached for the toy. Just as she took it, Sasuke called, "Misao, there's a woman here asking for you. Should I let her in?"

"Who is she?"

"She says her name's Mazaki Anzu."

_'Anzu?! How did she find me at this address?!'_

_**'If you don't let her in, she'll come back with the rest next time to demand your attention.'**_

_'Yeah.'_ "I know her, let her in!"

Anzu followed Sasuke into the living room, where he flopped tiredly onto the couch and was about to bite into his melon bread when Misao snapped, "Sasuke, what did I say about eating anywhere except the kitchen?!"

He shot up and walked the five feet to the kitchen, sitting at the table. "Tyrant."

"It's my house and you'd better believe I'm gonna be firm about the rules, Uchiha Sasuke!"

Anzu watched the exchange with slight alarm as she looked between the two. "Is this a relative of yours? I thought your only relatives were Rishid, Ishizu and Marik!"

"I forgot I didn't tell you, Anzu. I have two cousins, Sasuke is the younger of the two. The other is sleeping right now, named Itachi."

"Oh, are you visiting? Maybe I should bring the guys over to see your cousins' house!"

"Now?"

"Sure! I'll call them and give them the address, since this place isn't too far from the game shop!"

Before Misao could stop her, Anzu had called over not only her three guy friends, but Shizuka, Ryo and Otogi as well. Sasuke, who'd finished his breakfast in the midst of the calls, waved to Misao before going to his room. Anzu then asked, "Are your cousins police officers? I saw Sasuke-san had a uniform..."

"Yeah, they're brand-new to the force, since they just moved here three days ago."

"Did they have previous experience in another city?"

"Yeah."

"Do they have the graveyard shift if they're both in bed now?"

"Yep."

"Is this your baby? She's so cute!"

"This is Oki, my little cutie."

"I'm sure everyone's gonna think she's the sweetest thing! I guess this is an ideal place to hang out, since Kaiba and Mokuba are at work right now and you're usually stuck in that huge mansion all day."

The doorbell chimed and Misao placed a finger to her lips. "Tell them that we have sleeping people here and to keep the noise level to a minimum." _'Plus if they wake Itachi up, he'll be grumpy. And I don't want to deal with an irate husband right now.'_

_**'Let alone what Sasuke would do if he's woken as well. Grumpy ninjas aren't something to trifle with.'**_

_'Amen.'_

Anzu opened the door and greeted, "Hey guys! We have to be quiet, her cousins have had a long night and are sleeping."

There was a shuffle as the group entered and removed their shoes. Yugi came in first, followed by the others. They all either sat or knelt around the living room, Shizuka joining Anzu and Misao on the floor when she saw Oki.

"She's just so cute, Misao-san!" the girl whispered excitedly, waving a finger in front of the baby's face. "I'm sure that Kaiba is proud of his daughter's looks."

"He fell in love with her the instant he saw her," Misao recalled with a smile, although it was a completely different memory with Nanase instead.

"Mokuba told me that he and Kaiba were scared to death when you fell right before you were supposed to give birth to twins. You had to go to a special hospital out of town to even save one and get proper treatment, and it took three months for you to heal before you came back. He also told me Kaiba didn't sleep for a week and had nightmares for the rest of the time," Yugi revealed to her, a troubled look on his face. "I saw him once during that time, and I truly thought you'd died or something, he looked so miserable."

_'Here comes the guilt. I didn't know that Seto suffered so much in my absence. He didn't say a thing, but he's not one to speak about his weaknesses, even to me.'_

_**'Itachi has that flaw as well. He wouldn't even tell you if he was sick or critically injured.'**_

"Yeah, I don't want to see Kaiba out of sorts again, it was annoying," Jonouchi growled and clenched his fists. "I couldn't even bear to smack him out of his funk, as much as I wanted to."

"I don't wanna see you so agitated again Jonouchi," Honda chimed.

"I'd wondered why Kaiba looked so horrible during our meetings," Otogi murmured as he twirled his hair. "He's usually so composed, I actually thought Mokuba had died and I asked him, but he told me nothing."

"It was an awkward time for us all," Ryo concluded.

_'Wow, even Bakura was affected. I guess pretending to get hurt wasn't the kindest thing to do.'_

_**'But if you hadn't, you would've been forced to live even more a lie with Oki being raised by a man who isn't her father and knowing that Itachi wasn't childless.'**_

_'I see your point.'_

* * *

A few hours passed and Misao sensed Itachi waking. _'I'm going to be in trouble if I don't get everyone out of here before he comes out. The lie would be busted if he shows any affection towards me, and I have no doubt he will.'_

_**'Then let's get cracking, he doesn't take too long to wake up.'**_

"As long as I'd love to keep all of you over, I have things to do, so it's time for everyone to leave," Misao announced as she stood.

"Can't we help you?" Anzu offered. "I'm sure with more hands, we could get it done in no time."

"No, I'm fine, promise!"

With much nudging and assurances, the young adults left. She closed the door and sighed, just as Itachi opened the bedroom door and stepped out.

"Misao? Who was visiting?"

"Just some of my friends from around here. I thought you were still sleeping, so I had them leave."

He came over to her and gave her a peck on the lips. "Good morning, my love. Is breakfast ready?"

"It's on the table."

He nodded and she let out a silent sigh as she went over to Oki, who'd fallen asleep after such an ordeal of meeting many new people at once. Carefully wrapping the infant up in the blanket, Misao lifted her daughter up and carried her to the table, sitting down next to her husband.

"You slept well?"

"Yes. Sasuke should be waking as well."

Sasuke came out of his room and straight to the fridge. He took out the bottle of milk and was about to drink from it when Misao told him, "Don't drink out of the bottle."

He sighed and put the milk down before getting out a glass and pouring himself some. "You'd think I was living with my mother," he grumbled, then turned around to ask, "That woman Mazaki Anzu, is she a close friend of yours, since she said she was inviting all her other friends over and they didn't completely trash the place?"

"We've been through a lot while I visited here all those months, and all her friends are my friends, too. They're all around the same age except Shizuka, who's...eighteen now? They're not too rowdy unless there's a party, and I told them you guys were sleeping, so they kept their voices down. I'm actually second youngest in the group, all the rest of them are twenty-two or twenty-three."

"I heard the name 'Kaiba' from Mazaki-san before I fell asleep, who's that?"

"Kaiba Seto, CEO of Kaiba Corporation, the top gaming company in the country."

"It sounded like he's your friend, too."

"Not really, he's a loner and doesn't like making friends. The person closest to him is his younger brother, who's our age, Sasuke."

"Mokuba, if I heard right."

"Yeah."

Itachi listened to the conversation and asked, "Is this 'Kaiba Seto' anyone I have to worry about?"

Misao dodged by asking, "With you as a police officer, or as a—"

"As a romantic interest."

"No, of course not! You're the only man for me, Uchiha Itachi."

_**'All lies, of course.'**_

_'As long as I'm with him, he is. It seems that it's "out of sight, out of mind" for me.'_

_**'Pathetic excuses.'**_

"Which other friends of yours were visiting besides this 'Mazaki Anzu' Sasuke has mentioned?"

"Mutou Yugi, Jonouchi Katsuya, Honda Hiroto, Bakura Ryo, Otogi Ryuji and Kawai Shizuka."

_**'Of course, also the pharaoh, who's gone into the afterlife.'**_

_'What's the point of mentioning him unless Yugi visits and mentions him while Sasuke or Itachi is listening?'_

"Quite a few men, if they're as old as you say. Are you sure you never had a passing interest in one of them?"

"Why Itachi, I think you're jealous."

"What man wouldn't when he hears his wife's been spending time with men in close quarters?"

"It wasn't like that, I promise."

"Did you wear something like this when you were around them?"

"Of course not! Before I married you, you saw what I wore! Besides, all of them thought I was more like a kid than a woman!"

"Then why did you chase them out as soon as you sensed me waking?"

_**'He's got you there, Misao. What lie are you gonna cook up now?'**_

_'I don't know! He's at maximum sensitivity to lies right now! He'll know the instant I do!'_

_**'Well, think of something that's not exactly a lie quick!'**_

"I told you that you were my cousin, and cousins don't kiss each other like we do. They would've been uncomfortable with the display." _'That's as close to the truth as I can get.'_

_**'Nice.'**_

"Why lie to them? You could've said we were married."

"Here cousins don't marry each other Itachi," she replied firmly. "They would've thought you were some sicko for marrying me and forcing me to have a baby. Especially since you're older than me by six years and I'm not even legally an adult until I'm twenty in this country. Rules here are very different and if you're not careful, we could get in big trouble." _'Not that Seto and me are much better, only that we're not related to each other by blood as well as marriage. He's five years older than me, after all. Actually, he can't introduce me as his wife to the public until I turn twenty in two years, since we did get married a year ago. The only reason my other friends know is because they were at the reception, even if I wore my veil the whole time.'_

"She's right, Nii-san. I don't like that this place has different laws when it comes to adulthood, but I'm sure that if you don't mention you have a wife for two years, it should be all right," Sasuke put in.

Itachi looked frustrated, but he sighed and nodded. "We'll avoid speaking of the marriage to anyone, but what about Oki?"

"Let people think what they want. I'm not spreading lies to everyone about her parentage. I don't like doing that," Misao murmured, although it was a bold-faced lie.

"What about social functions? Surely I would bring my family to those."

"I'd leave Oki with a babysitter, or with a Shadow Clone. We're ninjas."

At that time, she took off her wedding ring and put it with the other one in her hidden shuriken hip holster. She sighed and bounced Oki, who was fussing a little as she woke from her nap. _'Keeping this up is going to be hard, especially if Seto and Itachi meet by accident and get talking.'_

* * *

Don'tjinxitdon'tjinxitdon'tjinxit-DANG IT! It's jinxed. Once she said it, it'll happen, although _when_ is the question! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Please review!


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Yu-Gi-Oh!

Judging by the lack of reviews, it seems the terribleness has chased everyone off! *evil laughter*

Here's the next chapter to those who dare to sample further!

* * *

Things went well for the next three years, and many things happened during that time. Misao gave birth to two boys, almost exactly nine months apart. The first (Itachi's child) she named Sotaro looked like her save he had the Uchiha eyes, and the second (Seto's child) she named Ichiro had dirty blonde hair with black bangs, along with indigo eyes that were a mixture of both his parents'. Itachi and Sasuke flew through the ranks of the police force until Itachi was the chief and Sasuke was chief deputy. Seto and Mokuba went overseas to America and started a branch of KaibaCorp there, before Seto proclaimed he was going to start a duel academy back in Japan, considering how much the current generation lacked in dueling skills. Nanase and Oki were a little over three years old now, both growing out their hair like their mom, who couldn't bear to cut even a single strand.

"Oka-san! Oka-san!" Oki cried. "Look what I can do!"

Her face scrunched up as she concentrated hard, before the Sharingan, one tomoe in each eye, appeared. Misao's eyes widened and she got out her phone, taking a picture. "That's amazing, Oki! I have to send this picture to your dad! He'll be so proud of you!" _'For a girl to awaken Sharingan...that's almost non-existent. It must be her strong genes from Itachi and my Uchiha genes being crossed. We are second cousins, after all.'_

_**'And I supplied her and her sister with plenty of chakra while they were inside of you. That ought to count for something. You also had to put extra chakra into them because they lacked the energy they needed for the last four months of your pregnancy.'**_

_'Yeah, so I'm sure Nanase will have similar abilities, except instead of being a high-class ninja, she's going to be raised as a civilian. I'll have to either train her to control her powers, or seal her chakra so she can live peacefully. For now, until she actually manifests the ability, I'll have to assume that the gene for Sharingan is too weak to show up in her skill set.'_

Misao texted Itachi and sent the picture with it, and as she waited for a reply, Oki tugged on her hand. "Yes?"

"Oka-san, what's this eye thing called?"

"Sharingan. It's something that the Uchiha family is known for."

Oki shifted her weight as she looked uncomfortable. "Oka-san...um..."

"What's the matter?"

"Anothergirlatdaycarehasthesameeyethingasme! Whatdoesthatmean?!"

"Okay, okay, young lady. Calm down and speak slower thing time. What did you say?"

Oki flushed in embarrassment as she twiddled her fingers. "Another girl at daycare has the same eye thing as me. What does that mean? She showed it to me and told me how to do it this morning. Is she part of the Uchiha family too?"

Misao froze. _'Oh...crap...'_

_**'No, **_**double**_** crap! What'll happen if Oki tells Itachi about this little girl?! We **_**know**_** it's Nanase!'**_

_'I don't know...but for Nanase to manifest Sharingan first...and not tell anyone besides her daycare friend... She _knows_ it isn't natural and she saw that Oki had similar chakra. She's smart like her dad, maybe a little too smart for a three-year-old. I can't worm it out of her because then I'd have to tell her how I found out about it! Outsmarted by my own daughter...this sucks.'_

"Oka-san? What's wrong? Did I say something bad?"

Sotaro began to wail as his mother's frozen frame became uncomfortable. Misao shook herself and smiled as she shushed her two-year-old son, who was also going to daycare with his sister. "It's okay, So-chan..." She then squatted down so she was eye-to-eye with her little girl. "Oki, this little girl, it was her secret to show you, so you shouldn't have even told me. But now that I know, I have to tell you this: we have to keep it a secret from _everyone_."

"Even Otou-san?"

"Even Otou-san."

"...okay, Oka-san."

Oki's guilty look made Misao feel bad, but she just ruffled her little girl's bangs and set Sotaro down. "Go play, Oka-san has some things to do."

They ran to the living room and Misao instantly contacted her Shadow Clone, which was at the Kaiba Mansion with her other two children. _*Did you know that Nanase has manifested her Sharingan?*_

_*No, I didn't! How did you find out if I haven't, Misao?*_

_*Oki told me that Nanase showed her how during daycare this morning. Nanase's too smart for her own good. Oki's more open with her secrets because Itachi and I encourage it. But Seto is completely the opposite in that context, so Nanase thinks that it's a thing to hide from everyone except her daycare friend. Could you somehow "accidentally" catch her in the act? I want to see how she'll react to her mom finding out.*_

_*I'll try my best. If I haven't found out by now, she must've only manifested it a few days ago and knew that she'd get scolded for it, since Seto hates anything unnatural, being a firm believer of solid facts and science. He only believes you're a ninja because of the tests and solid facts that have been shown him, plus he trusts you more than anything else. I'll report to you as soon as I can.*_

_*I'll be waiting.*_

As soon as Misao focused on the real world again, her phone beeped, signaling that she had a new text. She looked at it and smiled to see how surprised Itachi was that Oki had shown her Sharingan at such an early age, since he hadn't until he was eight. She told him the Nibi's observations about Oki's extra chakra, and he accepted that his own children would probably surpass him very soon in life. She ended the conversation by sending her love and closing her phone.

_'This could get messy very fast, especially if Seto finds out about Nanase's Sharingan before my clone does. Sure he's really busy with setting up and building the duel academy, but he's very observant and if Nanase's hiding something, he won't stop until he finds out what it is, even if she's scared that he'll hate her for what she has.'_

_**'Rejecting his daughter for something she can't help, how pathetic. At least we know he loves her and has spoiled her rotten these last three years.'**_

_'I don't think Seto has it in him to hate his children. I still remember when he held her for the first time, then Ichiro...he fell in love all over again. He adores his children and I'm sure if he had more, he'd be overjoyed, but since you're blocking my fertility because of Itachi, I won't have any other kids until Itachi decides that it's okay to have more.'_

_**'Which I doubt will be soon, considering that he was raised that even two children was a large family. Itachi loves Oki and Sotaro, but I think he doesn't want to be swamped with kids when he can hardly spend time with you and the two he has with his job.'**_

_'You're right, of course. Seto has more of a problem with that because he's working sometimes eighteen hours a day with his company and new project, but at least he'll make time to see his kids and wife, no matter how tired he is. Itachi's more cautious, because he knows how much he can handle before he collapses, and he has a dangerous job, even if it's a lot tamer than what he had to do as a ninja. He'll spend time with us, but then he'll usually retreat to his room to work some more. That's why I'm thankful I can reach him by texting, or else I'd hardly get to show him the daily things that happen and he'd hardly know our kids at all.'_

_**'I still prefer Itachi, even if he's become quite the workaholic, whereas Kaiba Seto was **_**always**_** a workaholic, so there's no change there. At least you know if you get tired, you have a Shadow Clone to replace you while you sleep. Itachi doesn't even do that to help with his workload. No wonder he looks ten years older, instead of three. He'll have to get some proper sleep one of these days or else we'll have to wallop him over the head and **_**make**_** him sleep.'**_

_'I doubt he would let us do that, even with you helping me. He's kept his senses sharp, especially for detective work. It's a miracle I've kept him in the dark about my relationship with Seto, although I know he suspects something with how I keep in contact with my Shadow Clone at the Kaiba Mansion. It's lucky they're several rungs apart on the social ladder or I'd be in trouble.'_

_**'You're far too lucky for your own good. Karma's gonna come back at you sometime for all this duplicity and you're gonna be the one crying.'**_

_'Karma can be a bitch.'_

* * *

And it came that very night, when Misao's clone checked in at midnight.

_*Misao! Misao, this is terrible!*_

_*What?*_

_*Seto's found out about Nanase's Sharingan and he's furious!*_

_*Oh crap!*_

_*We're so in for it now! What should I do?!*_

_*We'll have to switch and I'll take care of protecting our baby girl, since Itachi's at work and I should be over there in the first place to handle such things.*_

_*Roger that!*_

With a mere shimmer that signaled the Body Flicker, Misao switched with her clone and found that Nanase was cowering while Seto raged at her. Misao instantly stepped in front of her daughter and got into her husband's face. "Would you stop shouting for a second and let me explain?! It isn't Nanase's fault that she has this technique!"

Seto glared down at her and crossed his arms, breathing hard from screaming at his three-year-old daughter. "This had better be good, Misao."

"My family on my mother's side has a dojutsu that's passed down through genetics, and Nanase has it. It isn't magic, it's as believable as the rest of the things I do, it's done with chakra. The Sharingan is something the Uchiha are known for, save it's not prevalent in females. Nanase's one of the lucky ones to have awakened it at all, let alone at such a young age. You believe I have the Nibi no Neko in my body, why not that our daughter's special too?"

"Her eyes turned blood red! I've never seen yours do that!"

"Of course not. I've never trained for it, nor has it awakened within my eyes. Only males of my family can do so easily, so this is a gift, not a curse, Seto. My cousins both have this jutsu mastered, my elder cousin to the second stage. You shouldn't shout at our three-year-old daughter for a thing she cannot control. Since she has Uchiha blood, there was a chance for this, as small as it was."

"What're we going to do about this? It can't just be turning on and off at random times! She'll frighten others!"

Misao smiled sadly and turned to Nanase, squatting down just as she had with Oki. "Nanase, could you show it to me?"

Nanase looked up at Seto, blue eyes frightened. Misao placed a hand on her little girl's cheek and urged, "Look at me. Otou-san's not going to yell at you anymore. I just want to see it."

The brown-haired child nodded and instantly her eyes turned to Sharingan, without effort. They had one tomoe each, since she had limited chakra because of her age, but Misao knew by how much control she had, she'd had it longer than a few days. "When did your eyes first do this, Nanase? I can tell by how easily you turn it on that it's been more than a few days."

"Five months ago."

Misao's eyes widened. "At twenty-two months...wow. That's mind-boggling. To think that my daughter is more of a genius than my elder cousin, by five years..." She closed her eyes in thought, before opening them again. "Nanase, would you like to be trained now, or later, when you're a little older?"

Nanase's little face took on a meditative look as she considered her choices. Seto muttered, "She's only three, how can she make the choice on her own?"

"She's a lot smarter than you think, Seto. From what I've seen, she can already read quite well and she's been trying to copy the hiragana that children do during elementary school. I think she's coherent enough to make her own choices."

Nanase's face relaxed as she answered, "I want to wait until I'm older Oka-san, since I don't know how to control it very well. Sometimes it just appears and it's scared some of my friends."

Misao nodded. "All right. Now stay still, I'm going to seal your eyes so you can't activate your Sharingan anymore until I release it." She placed her hands over her daughter's eyes and concentrated. Her chakra easily sealed the chakra that was flowing to her daughter's eyes and she smiled. "Okay, I'm done."

When she took her hands away, Nanase's eyes were the normal blue again. "Thanks, Oka-san."

Misao hugged her daughter and rubbed a hand through her hair. "Okay, enough play, we need to get you back to bed, young lady."

"Okay."

When Misao had tucked in her baby girl into bed and read her a story until she fell asleep, she stepped out and closed the door silently. Seto followed her back to their room and when the door closed, he demanded, "This is only a temporary measure?"

"Of course. She's Uchiha, even if it's only a quarter. She'll have to be trained so she can control it and if she so desires, be brought up in the ninja arts so she can be like me."

"I don't like that you left it up to her. She's only three."

"But she also has the mental capacity of a child several times her age. I treated her as she acted, instead of like she was a toddler. She's a genius like you, Seto. Don't be angry because I decided against your wishes. In the future, it'll help her learn all the faster as she goes to school and beyond."

"I don't want her to grow up so fast! My little girl is only three!"

She held him as he trembled. "I know, but some children grow up faster than others. We have to appreciate the time we have with her now, so when she's gone from the house, off on her own, we'll be able to savor what we had with her. I noticed that you were surprised how much Mokuba had grown and matured by your side. He's already twenty-one, as am I."

"Where has the time gone? I remember when I first met you, you were sixteen and such a tomboy. I didn't see the girl I would fall in love with and marry. I really thought I'd lost you when you fell down those stairs."

"I'm just fine now, you don't have to worry."

"I just remembered something that I have to tell you. KaibaCorp is sponsoring the Annual Police Force Ball and it's mandatory that Mokuba and I go, so I want this to be your public debut as my wife."

_'Just the event I want to evade, since Itachi's police chief, so it'll be mandatory for him and Sasuke to go, too. And I know for a fact that he'll want me to come to show me off to all his co-workers. I can't go, but how can I say no when it'll make them look dumb that their wife wouldn't come to this annual ball even if she's old enough to actually go out with them without being ridiculed! But I _can't _go because Itachi'll recognize me right away, no matter what disguise I'm in! If I go, the jig's up, but if I don't, they'll meet anyways and it'll be certain that they'll talk about my absence! I'm doomed either way!'_

_**'Yeah, you pretty much are. At this rate, either they'll fight each other or force you to choose one of them. You know my opinion on the subject.'**_

_'The ball of doom, here we come.'_

* * *

Knew this day was going to come! So...any bets on who'll come out on top in the Seto/Itachi fight? *chuckles darkly and shakes head* Oh, this is just fun!

Please review!


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Yu-Gi-Oh!

Oh no...

Here it comes...

* * *

"Itachi? Could you help me in here?"

Already in a tux, Itachi stepped inside the master bedroom once more, to see his wife couldn't reach the back of her dress, which laced up. He came over and kissed her neck as he deftly tied it at the bottom, which was hidden by a sash. "You're nervous about something, Misao. What is it?"

_'He's only asking because he knows I've been dodging it the past week since he told me that even if I was deathly ill, I'd be going to this ball. Seto's just as adamant, so I'm sure that this dream will be ending tonight. I'll be forced to choose between them, or left alone with a heart in a billion pieces.'_

_**'I warned you from the very first, and bringing Itachi here was the biggest mistake. They would've met eventually, or one of them would find out because of a slip. You can't be a perfect wife for both of them.'**_

_'I know, you were right all along. I'm greedy, wanting the love of two men when I should've been happy with just one. Itachi was perfect, yet I had to be selfish and covet Seto too. I'm the lowest of low, even worse than a whore.'_

_**'After this is over and you have no one, perhaps you should stay single for the rest of you life and begin anew in the dimension you've avoided ever since you brought Nanase to Kaiba.'**_

_'I'm sure that _neither_ of my original dimensions will accept me, now that I've run from Konohagakure no Sato and committed the ultimate crime in Domino City, so yeah, I should start over from there. But I won't run away if either of them wants me after this, even if I have to endure the hatred of the other for the rest of my life.'_

_**'You haven't thought of the worst-case scenario.'**_

_'Which is that?'_

_**'What if they **_**both**_** want you, despite what you did? You can't split in two.'**_

Misao winced mentally as Itachi led her out to the car, Sasuke behind them, one of her clones staying to babysit. _'It would be brutal. I don't think I could watch as they progressed to have a tug-of-war or worse.'_

_**'If that happens, you'll have to do what's best for everyone and give up both of them. This will prove to be quite the scandal, considering their positions in society. Both of them unknowingly sharing the same woman and fathering two children each with her, and you know what staying would do to them, even if they refuse to let you go.'**_

_'Yeah. It will end tonight, as painful as a dull knife hacking out my heart...'_

Itachi stopped the car and got out with his brother, before coming over to her side and opening the door for her. "Let's go, Misao."

She nodded and let him help her out, her face determined.

"Whatever it was that was bothering you, it seems to have been solved on the way here. Will you be all right?"

She smiled at him and gave a small nod. "I'll be fine."

"How long has it been since you've seen Kaiba Seto?"

"The Battle City Tournament, five years ago." _'Only a few more lies before the truth comes out.'_

"We'll be meeting him as soon as possible, along with his wife and younger brother. Sasuke, I hope you don't make a bad impression on them."

"Why don't you say the same to Misao?"

"I won't because she knows to be on her best behavior at all times. She doesn't have the tendency to be rude to strangers."

"I _won't_, Nii-san."

"Well then, we'll see."

Sasuke scowled as he looked around, then gestured towards the refreshments table. "There's our host now, if the description is right."

_'Seto...'_

And she came face-to-face with her second husband, clone and brother-in-law. Seto was confused as all get out, Itachi had his Sharingan on at once in unison with Sasuke, while Mokuba looked between the two Misaos, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Misao, you owe all of us an explanation, _now_," Itachi bit out tensely. "Cancel the jutsu, Sasuke and I can see through it."

Not even blinking, the Shadow Clone dispersed, and she looked down, lips pressed in a grim line. "Of course you do. This is all my fault, no one else's."

Seto looked just as miserable as she did when he murmured, "Let's go somewhere private, before people begin talking."

They went into a side room and Misao sat facing her two husbands while the brother-in-laws guarded the door against eavesdroppers. Itachi's eyes were furious yet his face was professionally blank, while Seto mirrored her look, utterly devastated in the face of truth.

"Talk."

She flinched as if she'd been slapped by the cruel tone that her first husband had adopted, like she was a criminal he was interrogating. Seto's eyes narrowed as he growled, "Don't treat her like she's one of your criminals, Uchiha-san."

Itachi's eyes, still Sharingan, pierced the other man's skull, as Seto had not turned to look at him. "She's betrayed me by being with you."

"You don't know who she married first, so you might be wrong about that."

Itachi turned back to Misao, who hadn't changed her expression, nor moved at all. He saw how heartbroken she looked and compared it to the memory of her at her most joyful, when she'd given birth to Sotaro. She'd cried, she'd been so happy to see her son after a difficult delivery. This was caused by his fury towards her, so he softened his gaze enough that he could smile a little. "Misao, please tell us the truth."

Sasuke and Mokuba were intent on the conversation and knew that this would affect them as well.

"So...did you suspect anything fishy going on with Misao?"

"No, and I'm a ninja. I'm trained to think outside the box."

"I guess she had us completely fooled. I never thought she was married to another man."

"I noticed sometimes she seemed to be fighting an internal battle, but never something like this. I wonder what could've brought her to fall in love with both our older brothers."

"Hey Sasuke."

"What?"

"After this mess is over and done with, do you wanna go get something to eat?"

"Sure, maybe the arcade will still be open."

"I could even show you KaibaLand."

"We're just a couple of kids inside, aren't we?"

"Yeah we are. Friends?"

"Friends."

They shook before turning their eyes back to their brothers and sister-in-law.

Misao gritted her teeth and let out a hissing breath she'd been holding ever since they'd entered the room. "I intended to go on forever like this, although I never started out with a plan to have two husbands. I was just like any other girl with a dream of finding the perfect man, and the instant I met you, Itachi, I knew I'd found him. Those three months I spent with just you was like a paradise that I never wanted leave. But then, the Akatsuki came seeking the Kyubi, and you told me to leave."

Itachi's teeth bared in a grimace as he snapped, "If I knew this would happen, I would've made you stay! But we both knew that I couldn't concentrate on defending both you and Sasuke at once!"

"Sasuke had his chakra suppressed, I had access to all mine plus Kitty's, even if it was hiding. I could've taken care of myself if you'd trusted me. I'm not a Jinchuriki for nothing. Kitty had its chakra hidden for a reason, so they _couldn't_ track her. Why do you think they never found me when I was there? To them, I was just another ninja. _That's_ why your mother and father refused to accept my existence during that time, to protect my identity so I wouldn't get captured and the Nibi extracted."

"Will you let her continue instead of arguing with her?" Seto interrupted. "You tell her to talk, then you interrupt. You obviously are asking for a fight with her, aren't you?"

Itachi fell silent and nodded for Misao to continue.

"So I left for Domino City, where the Battle City Tournament was in full swing. When I first met you, Seto, we got off on the wrong foot because of my American mannerisms. You must've hated me during that time, since you had me sign a contract to be your personal maid for three months after the tournament ended, even though I'd never intended to stay past that. I only wanted to help Onee-chan bring Rishid and Marik to their senses. In that endeavor, I nearly lost my life and use of my arm, but the Nibi saved me, but the pharaoh succeeded when I could only watch. He and I were good friends after that, especially since the Sennen Tauk had been taken from me, thus making my way of traveling to this place impossible unless I retrieved it. I heard that you'd lost your sight because of an accident and because of my fearlessness of you, I was chosen to care for you, where I got to know you in a more intimate way than I'd ever had with a man, and slowly, I fell in love with you. Kitty instantly protested, since I'd already promised myself to Itachi, but I was already in too deep to resist, no matter what it did to curb my feelings for you. When you proclaimed your feelings for me, I knew I had to have your promise that I could have you too."

Seto took her hands when she paused, encouraging her to go on.

"I returned to Konoha, and Itachi, you were like a breath of fresh air to me, I fell even deeper in love with you, even if you'd taken the initiative and planned our wedding without informing me."

Seto shot a glare at his rival in love. "You _forced_ her to marry you?"

"She had plenty of time to refuse, and she didn't," Itachi stated flatly.

"You bastard. I'm sure she was so shocked by the sudden change she didn't even have the state of mind to protest!"

Sasuke snarled, "Did you just call Nii-san a bastard?! I'll kill you!"

"Sasuke, you will stay where you are," Itachi ordered.

"But Nii-san—"

"You heard me."

Sasuke huffed and crossed his arms. Mokuba shot a glare at his new friend. "Don't threaten Nii-sama like that."

They noticed they were both protective of their elder brothers and grinned at each other.

_**'Mokuba was right that he and Sasuke would be good friends.'**_

"I was accepted into the Uchiha Clan because of it and the marriage raised morale amongst the Allied Ninja Forces," Misao continued, as if she'd never been interrupted. "Plus if I hadn't married him, he would've had to have an arranged marriage and I couldn't have done that to him when the alternative wasn't so terrible. We had our newly-wedded bliss period for nine months, and I got nervous that I was pregnant, but Sakura told me I wasn't and told me to go on my way. At that time, the Akatsuki attacked, and Itachi told me to leave again, so I did.

"Very soon after I arrived in Domino City, you proposed to me, Seto. We had a week of calm before Kitty told me I was pregnant, but not only that, with _twins_. It insisted that I choose between the two of you or there would be consequences, but I didn't listen, not wanting to give up either of you. So Kitty retaliated: it shut off all chakra it had been feeding the babies. Because of that, I began dropping weight dangerously fast and vomited for four months straight. I was hospitalized, and the doctors had no clue if I'd actually survive. I was able to make peace with Kitty, so I was able to recover. When I was about to give birth, I staged a grievous injury so I could escape beforehand—"

Seto's eyes widened. "You mean...you weren't _hurt?!_ How could you put me through that?!"

"I had to, because Kitty had done something that would've had me found out quicker than I had: one twin was yours, the other was Itachi's. I called my firstborn Kaiba Nanase, the second, Uchiha Oki."

All four of the men looked at each other, then realized the truth. Seto set his lips in an accepting line. "I see. So the other twin didn't die before it was born."

"No. She's alive and well, living with her real father. When I returned to the Allied Forces Camp, where they were prepared to move out after their victory against the Akatsuki. I informed you of Oki's birth, Itachi, and the Kumo ninjas began to track down the Nibi in earnest. I told Naruto about the Nibi's existence, because he's a fellow Jinchuriki. We returned to Konoha and lived there peacefully until I got tired of hiding and revealed that I was the Nibi Jinchuriki, which caused a big mess—"

"The worst she could've caused," Sasuke put in.

"—and because of it, we decided to come here to get away from all the tension. I knew that my secret would be even harder to keep up than before, now that both of you lived in the same city. I revealed Nanase's existence to Seto, and he was overjoyed that she'd lived through my 'accident'. Things went rather well for three years, during which time I had two sons: Uchiha Sotaro and Kaiba Ichiro. Yet very soon after this span of time, Oki revealed that she'd activated her Sharingan, and a secret that I never would've found out in a million years if she wasn't so open with me: Nanase had taught her how, because she'd already awakened Sharingan five months before this, but had hidden it well. Seto had issues once he found out, but for now, Nanase's ability has been sealed. You then told me about this event, and I knew the cat would be out of the bag as soon as you two met."

She lowered her head and closed her eyes. _'Now is the moment of truth. They're both geniuses, so it won't take long for them to digest all of this and make their decision.'_

_**'Yeah, and even if Kaiba chooses you and Itachi doesn't, I won't get in the way.'**_

_'Thank you.'_

Seto sat back, fingers steepled as he stated, "Well Uchiha-san, it seems we have a situation here."

Itachi speared him with a glare, his fists clenched on his knees. "Did you acquire the gift of understatement naturally, or did you have to buy it from someone?" he quipped heatedly.

The blue-eyed man's expression didn't change as he replied, "Let's at least try to stave off the violence for a few minutes. As I said, this is a rather complicated situation, and we have to resolve it."

"How about I slit your throat, leave you in the gutter and set your carcass on fire?"

"I wasn't sure that Neanderthals had discovered fire yet."

"I'd be happy to demonstrate."

"Wow, did you just learn that word today? Your mommy must've given you a big gold star for that."

Mokuba cut in with the comment, "Should a police chief threaten a private citizen with murder?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Kaiba-sama, isn't this schoolyard bickering beneath your station?"

Both the elder brothers fell silent in shock at this display of sibling betrayal. They then turned to their shared wife and Seto asked, "Who would _you_ choose if forced, Misao?"

Misao's head jerked up at the question. _'They're not both dumping me?! And here I thought...'_

_**'Well, this better than what you'd imagined, isn't it?'**_

"I _can't_ choose!" Misao burst out. "It's impossible! Why do you think I married you _both_ in the first place?!"

Seto steepled his fingers again as he thought out all the variables of this problem. "I suppose this tradition dictates we have a contest of some sort." He crossed his arms. "I hardly think chess or go would be sufficient for a matter of this gravity."

"I'm still liking the idea of a fight to the death," Itachi countered. "_Your_ death."

"Too bad you dismantled Death-T," Mokuba added in an offhand tone.

"Death-T? What's Death-T?" Sasuke asked right after, interested, neither of the younger brothers thinking their elders were listening to them.

"The most accurate description is that it's an amusement park designed to kill."

"_Really_? Why would he make something like _that_?"

"It is a _long_ and _complicated_ story."

"Try me."

Just as Mokuba was about to begin, Seto interrupted.

"Actually Mokuba, I _think_ you might be on to something."

Seto related the tale of Death-T to the group.

"Child's play," Itachi sneered.

"For a man of your capabilities, yes. To ensure an adequate challenge, Misao and Sasuke will assist in designing and selecting obstacles for you to overcome. If you succeed, I will be waiting to begin a fight to the death."

"Why not just fight me now?"

"If I did that, I'm quite sure that you would have an insurmountable advantage, Uchiha-san."

"I can deal with that."

"How about we duel instead of fight?"

"What's the difference?"

"How long have you lived in Domino?"

* * *

Seto's got a point there, Itachi... lol

What did I tell you guys? The jig's up, so who are you rooting for? Seto Kaiba or Itachi Uchiha? *looks around as crickets chirp*

*shrugs* Oh well, let's allow this chapter to close!

Please review!


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Yu-Gi-Oh!

So, who thinks they'll play duel monsters? Or will they fight it out at the top of another theme park like "Death-T"?

Hmmm...things just keep getting more and more horrifying... *snickers*

* * *

The very next day the whole gang came over (they were staying at the Kaiba Mansion), including her half-siblings.

"You never told us you were back for so long, Imoto!" Marik scolded, even if he was grinning.

"Of course I didn't, because I knew you'd find out with that devious mind of yours, Onii-chan," Misao replied, holding both her two-year-old sons, who were doing their best to grab each other's face.

_**'That's Marik for you. He always had a clever side to him, even when you were kids.'**_

"How about I help you with this competition that you're setting up with your two lovers?"

"They're not my lovers Onii-chan, I've been legally married to them both." _'Which I'm thankful for, or else the other would've had to give me up quickly to avoid trouble with the law.'_ "If you think you can think up challenges that'll be hard for a ninja far better than me?"

Marik choked and demanded, "Who's better than _you_ are?! You're the strongest ninja I've heard of!"

"Obviously you haven't heard of my friend, Naruto. He could bury me if he wanted."

"Oka-san," Nanase piped up, having been playing checkers with her sister on the floor, "Who's Naruto-san? Is he here?"

Misao shook her head. "He's far away, where Oki's daddy comes from."

"He must be a good person if he's your best friend, Oka-san!" Oki chirped.

"Yeah he is."

Ishizu gave her younger sister an intent look. "I know from your mother and the fact that you've brought over three people from the other dimension is that you can bring anyone from one to the other, so we could actually see the other world if we went with you."

"Yes, but none of you could survive there unless you stayed out of the way of the ninjas when they're fighting or training."

"Is it _really_ that dangerous, Misao-chan?" Jonouchi asked as he put his arm around his wife, Mai. "Sure there's ninjas and all, but is the whole land a huge battlefield?"

The half-Uchiha woman looked down at her boys and murmured, "No it isn't, but I don't want many people there to know there's a way to get to this world, they might try to take advantage of me, because there's always an enemy, even if the rest of the world is at peace."

"What're you talking about?!" Marik protested. "You've told us there aren't many who can match you, and those who are are your friends or allies!"

"That's true, but it's been three years since I've been back there and sometimes it takes only that long for things to spiral into chaos. Believe me, once it took only three months for the entirety of the land to be steeped in war, and it was all because of one man."

Yugi sighed. "I know how that feels Misao-chan. Atem had to relive his memories and it was because of two people that the world was almost engulfed in darkness. Don't worry about us, we've had our share of life-and-death experiences."

"But without the Sennen Items, you're all just civilians in the ninja world. Believe me, that's why Seto's crafting a second version of Death-T, because our version of ninjas makes yours seem like they're nothing but smoke and mirrors."

"How about this," Itachi chimed in, coming out from the room he'd been speaking about Duel Monsters with Seto, "I'd like to go back to visit the family, see if we can bury the hatchet."

"No."

"Well, that's unfortunate. I'm so broken up about this, I might have to stand in front of city hall and start throwing a few of my flashier jutsu about."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Care to try me?" He started to puff small fireballs from his nostrils.

"I still don't believe you."

Seto came out and snapped, "No lighting fires in my house, Uchiha!" He then turned to Misao, who was giving her other husband a dubious and stubborn glare. "What did he say to you?"

"He says he's going to display some of his fire jutsu in public."

"People will probably think it's KaibaCorp holotech at work."

Itachi smirked. "Two words: melting windows."

Blue eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't dare."

"Is there an echo in here?" Mokuba asked.

"Wouldn't I? Everyone else wants Misao to take us to see Konohagakure no Sato, but she says it's unsafe."

"I'll help you if it gets us over there, I've always wanted to see the place Misao's been talking about for years."

Misao's face turned so red it looked like she was about to explode. "You two are conspiring against me."

"Is it working?" Seto asked with a grin.

She shook a little before letting out a frustrated sigh. "Fine, but we're brainstorming Death-T Version Two while we're there! This isn't a vacation!"

* * *

When they appeared outside the walls of the village, the Nibi grumbled, _**'I'm not a frickin' bus, you know... If we do this again after we take everyone home, I'm letting your chakra be the power source.'**_

_'Believe me, if we do, cut off your chakra, so we _can't_.'_

Everyone from Domino City stared at the enormous gates which led into the village. Jonouchi was the first to crack.

"Those walls are _massive_!"

"Yeah really, Jonouchi!" Honda agreed.

"Big walls!" Sotaro shrieked.

"Big walls!" Ichiro repeated.

"Of course they're large," Seto mocked. "How else would they keep other ninjas out during a war?"

Misao nodded. She then screamed in surprise when a certain orange-clad blonde glomped her without any warning.

"MISAO-CHAN! YOU'RE BACK!"

She stumbled back a few steps as he gave her a full-body hug, before she hugged him back. "It's good to see you too, Naruto."

Nanase's eyes widened at the sight of the famous Naruto from her mother's stories. "That's Naruto-san?"

Oki giggled. "Naruto's always funny!"

The Uchiha men stared at Naruto in incredulity. "How did he know?"

"We're not even in the village proper yet."

While everyone else was gob smacked because of Naruto's sudden appearance.

"How did he get here so suddenly?"

"Does he have some kind of homing instinct for Misao-chan?"

"He's even louder than Jonouchi."

"Hey!"

"You know it's true, buddy."

"He must have some kind of supernatural power that not even Imoto knew about."

"Yes, I don't think he could've known she was here so soon otherwise."

Naruto hugged her so tight she felt her ribs constricting her lungs. "Where have you been all this time?! Why did you suddenly disappear again?! Tsunade-obaa-chan's gonna pound you for running off like that! She didn't know if you were alive or dead!"

"Naruto..."

He looked at her face (which was slowly turning blue) and asked, "What?"

"Choking...not...breathing..."

"Sorry!" he cried, leaping back so she could regain her breath.

"I swear, you're gonna kill me someday with those excited hugs of yours."

Her eyes suddenly turned blue and her pupils slitted, red chakra bubbling around her, two tails waving behind her. "_**Hello, Kurama,**_" the Nibi greeted.

Naruto's eyes did the same, except they were red and his cloak had nine tails. "_**Hello to you too Matatabi. It's been more than three years.**_"

"_**Don't blame me, blame Misao. She decided to up and leave because she didn't want to cause trouble with those troublesome relatives of hers.**_"

Kurama laughed. "_**I thought as much! They wanted you all to themselves and they almost started a civil war because of it! Such fools to think they can keep a Jinchuriki under control for longer than they did!**_"

Matatabi giggled in agreement. "_**I see that you didn't allow Naruto to run about the Elemental Countries searching for her.**_"

"_**I knew from past disappearances that you were safe and far beyond the reach of any enemies that might want to hunt you. I'm just glad you're back, even if it's for a short time.**_"

"_**Me too.**_"

They embraced before receding back into their hosts.

"I didn't know the Kyubi and Nibi were friends," Itachi observed.

Misao shook her head. "Not friends, siblings."

_**'You got that right! We only have each other, the others we haven't seen for a long time, since they were sealed in a secret underground place.'**_

_'Yeah, and when I get to an old age, I'm sure you'll be extracted and placed there as well, since it's been decided that after the near-destruction of the world because of the partial-resurrection of the Jubi that the Biju are too powerful in the hands of ninjas.'_

_**'Although I'd prefer to die inside you then go back to my home beyond, I guess it'll be for the best, considering the disaster it would make if you died in Domino City and I was resurrected in that world.'**_

_'Yeah, I don't even want to think about that.'_

"Come on, Misao-chan! Introduce me to your new friends!" Naruto urged.

"I'm sure they'll introduce themselves if you just decided to go around the group as we walk."

"Sure."

Naruto chatted with the different members of the group and when they'd reached the gate, Misao got surprised the second time when Tsunade came racing up to her and pummeled her, making her fly a good couple hundred feet into the air, before Naruto caught her.

"UCHIHA MISAO! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!"

Her eyes were swirls as she lost consciousness. "Tsu...nade...sama..."

* * *

The news of Misao's return went through the village like wildfire, especially when Tsunade dragged the girl to her office by her ankle and shouted at her for four hours.

"You'd better not leave again unless you inform me first! The Raikage was about ready to kill me when you didn't arrive to receive your Kumo status! I don't care what you've come back for, you'd better do that first, you hear me?!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama." _'I don't know when my ears will stop ringing...'_

_**'You're telling me. I think I've gone temporarily deaf...'**_

She looked miserable as she stumbled out of the office. She rubbed her head as she whimpered, "Sorry if I have to be gone for a while, I have to go report in to the Raikage in Kumogakure no Sato, or it's my hide."

"I'll go with you," Itachi insisted, but she waved him off.

"It's my problem that I didn't do that first before leaving. You all have fun with the locals and I'll be back whenever I get back."

* * *

Three weeks later, she found them at a hot springs resort after she'd reported to Tsunade, who'd decided not to retire until she tracked Misao down and finished her business with Kumo. It would now be Naruto's turn to be Hokage, once the paperwork was done and everything was transferred to Naruto's name. She decided to join them, since a good soak was what she needed to soothe her aches and pains from all that travel.

As she took off her gear and clothes, she noticed that several more people were with her friends and family. She narrowed her eyes and wrapped a towel around herself, before stepping into the women's side of the bath. She was met with all the women that she'd befriended from both worlds, soaking and talking and generally having a good time with each other.

"It took you long enough to get here, we've been soaking for a good twenty minutes," Mai complained, but smiled all the same.

"Hey Misao-chan!" Sakura greeted, getting out to come over to her friend. She put an arm around her and murmured, "Your friend Mokuba sure is a looker! Sasuke introduced him to me and we've been getting along swimmingly. So I want to ask... When you go, will you take me with you?"

"You like him that much? That you would leave all this behind? Remember, if you two break up, you'll have to beg to come back here."

Sakura nodded. "I do, and I've seen Sasuke watching Shizuka-chan more than any of the other girls here."

Ino zoomed over to her other side. "I've seen Marik-kun looking at _me_! I love his exotic look and I want to come too, unless he wants to move here!"

"Ino, your dad already said no to moving, so you'd have to convince Marik-kun!"

"I want Misao-chan to convince him! He _is_ her brother, after all!"

Misao stepped out from between the quibbling girls and sat down in the steaming water. Love seemed to be in the air with these two groups meeting, and there would probably be many exchanges with who lived where. She noticed Tsunade, Ishizu and Shizune were off by themselves and deep into conversation, both their faces deadly serious. Shizuka and Hinata were whispering to each other, while Tenten and Mai were laughing at something.

_'I guess they're all mixing well. I'm sure the men are, too.'_

_**'Let's just hope Naruto isn't giving them a show with his Ninja Centerfold and Konohamaru with his "Yuri no Jutsu".'**_

_'If he is, I'm sure that the silence over there is because they're embarrassed, not turned on.'_

She then heard from beyond the fence, "Come on, Kaiba-kun! What's your poison? I know there _has _to be a type of girl you get all hot and bothered over!"

"You and your perverted illusions can stay away from me _Uzumaki_," Seto near-snarled.

"I know _just_ the girl Kaiba gets off on," Jonouchi whispered to Naruto, then she heard in a muted tone, "Misao-chan, Naruto. He's had the hots for her ever since he first saw her."

Naruto sniggered. "Oooh, this is gonna be fun..."

Misao blushed and was about to shout at Naruto and Jonouchi for being perverts, but then she heard the "pop" of the blonde transforming.

"What do you think Kaiba-sama?" was said seductively in her voice.

She shook so hard that her towel began sliding off as she heard wolf whistles and whoops. She then turned to her female companions and saw they were rolling their eyes. She narrowed her eyes and then grinned wickedly.

_'Oh, I'm _so_ getting back at you, Naruto!'_

_**'He's gone too far with that perverted technique this time. I'll help you if you want.'**_

_'Wonderful.'_

* * *

That night, when everyone was relaxing after having dinner, Misao stood up and announced, "Why don't we play a game?"

Sakura, who'd heard about what Naruto had done, called out, "Truth or Dare!"

"Yes!" Jonouchi crowed. "I _love _this game!"

Seto rolled his eyes while Itachi frowned, his eyes suspicious.

"Since I suggested we play something, I'll go first." Misao snapped her gaze to Naruto, who grinned cockily. "Naruto, truth or dare?"

The blonde answered immediately, "Dare."

"I dare you to kiss Shino on the lips for a full minute."

Naruto actually turned green when it sank in. "K-kiss..._Shino_?"

Shino, who'd actually relented and actually wore a yukata like everyone else, just his sunglasses on, actually smirked slightly.

Sasuke and Mokuba began laughing at Naruto's hesitance, which made the Kyubi Jinchuriki grit his teeth and march over to the Aburame and looked at the clock until the second hand was on the sixty, before he mashed his mouth on Shino's and Misao watched him struggle with not throwing up as Shino stayed expressionless, only for Naruto to shudder at the last second and jump away.

"That's sick, man!" he yelled, wiping his mouth and gagging.

Shino actually had a small grin on his face as he stated, "She never said anything about what I could or couldn't do to make you grossed out, Naruto."

"You didn't have to _lick_ me!"

At that, everyone else broke into fits of laughter, some trying to hide it better than others. Misao grinned, giving Shino a nod in thanks while Naruto glared at him.

Misao chirped, "Now it's your turn Itachi!"

Itachi smirked and looked right at Seto. "Kaiba, truth or dare?"

The blue-eyed brunette glared at him. "Truth."

"What is the strangest fear you have?"

"I'm afraid of clowns. I find them creepy."

"Nii-sama, that's a bald-faced lie!" Mokuba shouted.

"It sure is," Misao concurred.

"You had two people call you out on that one Kaiba," Itachi drawled with a grin. "Now you _have to tell the truth_ and_ take the dare_. You're not very good at this game, are you?"

Seto shot a poisonous look at his brother and wife. "Traitors."

He was sent innocent smiles in return.

"Fine, I'll tell the truth. I have Metrophobia."

"What's that?"

"I don't have to tell you what it means—"

"It's a fear of poetry," Tsunade cut in.

Jonouchi perked up. "Oh, so do you hate singing too?"

"Jonouchi, they'll never find the body," Seto threatened before he answered, "I don't fear that, but I'm not answering anything else about it. It must be Sas—"

"You have to take the dare too Seto," Misao interrupted.

"I dare you to recite '**Jabberwocky**'," Itachi chortled.

"No! That stupid poem makes no sense!" Seto shouted, a revolted shudder running through his frame.

"You _have_ to do it, it's in the rules."

Seto gritted his teeth and began: **(A/N: I don't own the poem "Jabberwocky"! Can't sue me now!)**

_'__**Twas brillig, and the slithy toves**_

_**Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:**_

_**All mimsy were the borogoves,**_

_**And the mome raths outgrabe.**_

After even that he screamed in frustration and scratched himself as if he had a full-body itch. Everyone snickered at that and Misao cooed, "Let him be Itachi, or else he'll tear his skin off."

The eldest Uchiha nodded and nudged his younger brother. "Your turn Ototo."

Sasuke grinned and turned his eyes on Naruto, who jerked. "Not me again, Sasuke! I just had a dare!"

His rival ignored his plea and spoke. "Naruto, truth or dare?"

"Truth this time!"

"Have you ever had a dirty dream about someone in this room, and who was it?"

Naruto looked around the room and blushed. "Yes...I can just tell you about one of them?"

Sasuke's eyes sparked with interest. "With that juicy fact, _all of them_."

"But—"

"You saw what happened to the last guy who didn't follow the rules. Do it or you'll have to dish out details."

Naruto squirmed as he answered, "Sakura, Hinata, Misao-chan and...Ino."

Hinata held her cheeks as she burned crimson, Ino and Sakura yelled "About ME?!" and both Misao's husbands proceeded with shaking him so hard his brain rattled in his skull.

"Forget all those!" the latter two ordered.

"But I'm not done yet!"

Everyone froze and Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"There was also Sai and...you."

The stares made Naruto crack and he began speaking his reasons really fast. "I only dreamed about Sasuke because of that one time when we were getting our teams assigned and the time with Sai because of when he acted weird during that mission! I don't bend that way, I just have a wild imagination, I swear!" **(A/N: The incident with Sai is in a filler season, so watch the episode and laugh! *cackles*)**

Everyone started laughing at the mortified look on Sasuke's face and the distantly interested one on Sai's.

* * *

The next day consisted of the whole group having a picnic in Team Seven's old training ground, the intermixed group sharing stories, whether funny or not was who each was about.

"That's not true at all!" Yugi shouted in indignation, his face flushed as he sat with Hinata, Jonouchi, Honda, Choji, Kiba, Neji and Sasuke. "You're remembering it wrong, Jonouchi!"

"Oh come on, you know Atem was curious about it!" the blonde insisted. "That's why your grandpa took away the tape I lent you!"

"Atem's not a pervert! He just came across the tape and thought it was something I'd just watched! Jii-chan _happened_ to come in while he was just starting it and took it away!"

The men laughed while Hinata blushed, asking, "Was the pharaoh really that curious about such a thing?"

Honda patted her shoulder. "Yeah, Yugi just doesn't want to admit it."

Further off, Otogi, Marik, Mokuba and Seto were having a meeting about what was going to work and not work in Death-T Version Two. A huge blueprint of the site that had formerly held the original theme park had scribbles all over it, the drawing of the building with several stories and twisting hallways and rooms connecting them, which looked like a three-dimensional maze with all sorts of traps and challenges set up. Things were going well, since every once in a while one of the ninjas in the group would point out something that could made harder or what wouldn't work.

"Any other ideas we can think of right now?" Seto asked, studying the drawing with a critical eye.

Marik grinned at some of his notes on creative traps and challenges for Itachi once this thing was built. Naruto had helped him brainstorm on the traps, as well as Shikamaru. They couldn't underestimate the Uchiha, or else this would prove far too easy. It had to be fair, since Itachi was an S-class ninja and Seto was a civilian, who only had much weaker martial arts and his brain working for him.

"I think it's ready for the construction phase Kaiba," he answered with confidence.

Otogi nodded. "This is a masterpiece that we've all used our finest skills to create. If it fails now, it just shows how capable Uchiha-san is."

"We've had the help of everyone who's seen him fight and I've talked with Sasuke about Itachi-san's skills until we've come up empty on counter-strategies to his skill set. It's as ready as it can get Nii-sama," Mokuba confirmed, then added, "You know with this you'll have to put the Duel Academy project on hold."

Seto nodded. "I doubt anyone would want to use this part of the theme park after it's initial use, but I might be surprised. The Duel Academy project will be resumed as soon as this is over."

Ino, Mai, Sakura, Anzu and Shizuka were chattering about the boys of the group and were as happy as can be.

Ryou was with Misao watching her two boys while Itachi was lightly training with her two girls. He was nervous still around her, even after Bakura had been destroyed and the Sennen Ring buried deep in the earth. She was still coaxing him out of his shell, but watching her children with her sure helped, since Sotaro and Ichiro adored him.

"Misao-san, are you sure you want me at Nanase-chan and Oki-chan's birthday party? Aren't they scared of me?"

"Why would they be? They like you so much they jump up and down when they hear you're coming over to babysit."

He fidgeted as Ichiro grabbed two handfuls of his hair and proceeded to twist them together. "I thought...because of..._him_...that I wouldn't be trusted by you at all."

"Ryou?"

"What?"

"You're a moron."

"Huh? Why?"

"I knew the difference between you two from the start."

"How?"

"Your chakra. His was tainted by darkness, while yours was normal. Everyone has chakra, it just matters whether they train with it or not on how strong it is. And I'm the Jinchuriki of the Nibi, you think Kitty wouldn't know you from the Dark One?"

She rolled her eyes as he gently extracted the toddler's hands from his hair.

"Thank you for giving me a chance."

"You had nothing to do with what the Dark One did with your body, and if I had someone to blame for my near-death during Battle City, it would be Onii-chan's dark half."

Marik sneezed and turned to Misao, who grinned cheekily. "Stop talking about me! You made me sneeze all over the blueprint!"

"It's your fault for sneezing!"

"So help me Imoto, I'm gonna tape your mouth shut!"

She giggled and raised her hands in surrender. She then turned back to Ryo, only to see Otogi approach her, nervous. She raised her eyebrows before she patted the blanket next to her. "Sit down, Otogi-kun. What's eating you?"

He glanced behind him quickly before he sat down. "Misao-chan, we're not the best of friends—"

"What do you want? Permission to date one of the girls here? Why ask me? Ino did the same thing a while back."

"Well, um...I've given up on Shizuka-chan, since she seems to be seeing Sasuke-san. Would you...introduce me to Temari-san?"

"Temari?! Are you _serious_?!"

"Yeah. She seems the perfect girl to go out with, not too shy and pretty to boot."

She looked over at Gaara, who had joined Seto's group and was giving suggestions, and Kankuro, who had joined the larger guys' group and was laughing along with them, while Temari had joined the women in chatting about other things. "Well, just make sure you let Gaara and Kankuro know when you want to pop the question, or he'll be glaring at you throughout the whole wedding."

"Her younger brother?"

"Yeah. Gaara can be intimidating."

"You sure? He doesn't look _that_ scary."

"You haven't seen him mad. He used to be the Jinchuriki of the Ichibi."

"I'll follow your advice if you think he has that much of a temper."

"He used to kill people on a daily basis, although without Shukaku, he's not a crazy homicidal maniac anymore. Just be careful, he's not someone to be messed with, especially if you're dating his sister."

"Hey, Misao-chan!"

Naruto jumped on her back and hugged her. "What're you talking about with Otogi-san?"

"Just that he wants to date Temari."

The blonde smirked. "Watch out for Gaara, he'll stuff his sand down your throat if you hurt her."

Otogi choked. "Sand?"

"Yeah, sand."

Misao stood up and gestured to Otogi to follow. Naruto joined them and patted the shell-shocked man's shoulder. The pair exchanged a high-five behind his back. Gaara wasn't that bad these days, he'd mellowed out so much after the Fourth Great Ninja War it took a lot to raise his hackles.

"Hey Temari!" she called and the woman looked up.

"Yes, Misao?"

"Come here for a minute, I wanna talk to you!"

The Suna kunoichi came over and asked, "What is it?"

"You've met Otogi Ryuji, right?"

"No I haven't," she admitted and turned to the dark-haired man. "I'm Temari, older sister of the Godaime Kazekage."

For once, Otogi was shy and twisted his bangs because he didn't know what to say. Misao and Naruto grinned before she said, "I'll leave you two alone to talk."

They returned to Ryou, who had both the boys scrambling all over him, giggling as he played dead for them. Misao smiled and commented, "Ryou, you'd make a good dad if you would just trust someone enough to date them."

He opened one eye and frowned. "How would anyone like me? I'm too...quiet."

"If you would just gather up your courage and ask the girl you like, maybe she'd say yes."

He sat up (Ichiro and Sotaro whining) then turned his eyes on who but Hinata, who was sitting amidst the group of men looking lost. "I wonder if she'd like me back if I did ask her."

Misao knew a triangle was going to happen (Naruto had run off to help Itachi train the girls) and smiled. "Sure, why not? Go for it."

So the white-haired man stood and walked over to rescue Hinata from all the testosterone.

Misao bounced her two boys on her knees, which made them giggle. Life was peaceful, at least until things got complicated, and she was seeing it _everywhere_.

_'Oh how the triangles appear. It's me, Seto and Itachi all over again. I'm staying out of the line of fire, I have my own problems to deal with.'_

_**'That's wise, considering how much trouble you're in right now, **_**married**_** to both of them. At least everyone knows everyone in this setting.'**_

_'Yep, sooooo staying out of this hot mess, and if the girls come to me, crying and asking how I handled this, I'll tell them to make their choice and not play the two guys. Some girls might not take two guys hitting on them, but some of the shier ones might be trouble. I wish I could use Shikamaru's favorite phrase.'_

_**'Do it, just for kicks and giggles.'**_

"How troublesome."

* * *

After their second month of vacation, Seto and Itachi decided it was time to leave, but that's when the trouble started. Mokuba, holding Sakura's hand, was tailed by a profusely confessing Lee, who'd gotten hold of her other hand.

"Sakura-san, stay with me and we'll get married!"

"Get _off_ me, Lee!"

"Nii-sama, are we going to take _him_ too? He's clinging to Sakura-chan like a burr on a horse's tail!"

Sakura yanked her hand out of Lee's grip and hugged the younger Kaiba, a frown on her face as she glared at the other man. "Lee, I've never felt that way about you, so would you _please_ forget about me and find someone else? I'm _begging_ you."

Tears flowed down Lee's cheeks, but he grabbed her hand between both of his and fervently promised, "I promise, Sakura-san! I see you have strong feelings for Mokuba-kun and will leave with him forever! You must promise to enjoy your youth with him and have many beautiful children!"

Both Sakura and Mokuba blushed at the words and she cried, "LEEEEEEE! That's _embarrassing_! Why would I promise such a thing?!"

Lee's tear-filled eyes sparkled in earnest. "Please, and I will keep my promise for the rest of my life!"

She quivered before she blurted, "I promise! We'll have a whole pile of kids that shine brightly with the flames of youth!"

"Hooray! I will look forward to seeing them when you visit again!"

He ran off, probably in search of a new girl to woo (or more likely scare away). **A/N: Victory for Mokuba, loss to Lee!**

Seto snorted. "Let's hope we _never_ see that man again, he's a complete nut job."

"You haven't met his mentor," Itachi stated with a shake of his head. "It's a learned habit."

It was then that Tenten came over, Honda and Neji trailing after her. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot, giving Misao a pointed look. The younger woman raised her eyebrows and looked to Itachi first, then Seto.

"Misao, would you _please_ resolve this? I've been dating Hiroto-kun, but as I'm packing my bags, Neji tells me I can't leave with him! I haven't dated Neji in _years_!"

"Hey, hey, I'm not touching this with a hundred foot pole!"

Tenten then rounded on Neji. "You have no right to tell me what to do! You used to be my boyfriend when we were younger, but I like Hiroto-kun better and I want to be with him! So leave me alone and find someone else before I have to hurt you!"

Neji's eyes narrowed. "He's not even a ninja, how can he protect you in an unknown world?"

"Hey! I've handled myself in this 'unknown world' just fine!" Honda protested.

Tenten placed a hand on her new boyfriend's chest. "Let me do the talking, Hiroto-kun." She spat, "Neji, I'm not going to rekindle our relationship when it's been over for years! You're stuck in the past, so live for the present and future! Give up on me!"

"Fine, but if he dumps you, don't come crying to me!"

He stormed away, growling.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Such a drama queen, even when we were Genin."

Honda chuckled. "I can see that from the stories you've told me." **A/N: Victory for Honda, loss for Neji!**

Misao sighed. _'I'm thankful that's over, but here comes round three.'_

_**'Any bets?'**_

_'The Sasuke, Shizuka, Kiba triangle. I've seen how Kiba's been trying to make the moves on Shizuka and my bet is that Kiba's gonna fight a lot harder than the first two, but still lose against Sasuke.'_

_**'Well then, we'll see how this turns out.'**_

"You guys are hurting me!" Shizuka cried, one hand in Sasuke's grasp, while the other wrist was in Kiba's.

To make things even more violent and complicated, Jonouchi stomped over and growled, "You guys been fighting over my sister?! Imoto, who're you dating?"

Shizuka shrugged her right shoulder at Sasuke. "Kiba-san just decided to try and flirt with me when I didn't want it."

"That's not true!" Kiba snarled. "You've been encouraging my advances, Shizuka-chan!"

"She's just been too shy to refuse you, Kiba!" Sasuke snapped, using his other arm to wrap around her waist and tug her towards him.

"You Uchiha get all the pretty ones! Why can't you let the rest of us have one for once?!"

"I've been dating her and you've been sexually harassing her! There's a difference!"

"WHAT?!" Jonouchi exploded. "MY SISTER'S NOT GONNA TAKE SUCH BEHAVIOR FROM _ANY_ MAN! STEP BACK, INUZUKA! OR I'LL PUNCH YOUR NOSE IN!"

Akamaru, who'd followed his master, whimpered and covered his eyes with his paws.

_**'Should we step in? It's getting dangerous.'**_

_'No need, I feel plenty of killing intent from Itachi.'_

_**'Oh, with all the shows of tempers from the three men, his killing intent was almost invisible.'**_

_'We're still just watching. Only if blows are traded will we step in.'_

_**'Or if Biju get involved.'**_

Kiba looked over at Itachi and flinched at the death glare, feeling the killer intent directed at him. He let go of Shizuka's wrist and backed away a few feet before he stabbed a finger at Sasuke, "I'm only giving up because I'm not gonna fight a losing battle!"

He then fled, Akamaru following at his heels. **A/N: Victory for Sasuke, loss for Kiba!**

_**'You win.'**_

_'Thank you.'_

_**'Who next?'**_

_'No more predictions, but there _will _be more coming, since I sense three more triangles in the works.'_

_**'Oh goody!'**_

"But Ino, you've known I liked you from when we were Chunin!" Choji pleaded.

"Choji, please respect my decision and accept that Marik-kun is the one I've chosen to be my boyfriend!" Ino pleaded back.

"There's no way a beautiful woman such as Ino-chan would accept the suit of a fatty like you!" Marik growled.

Choji burned with fury as the taboo word was used. "Why you...I'm gonna tear you limb from limb, pretty boy!"

Ino stopped the fight before it started. "Choji, I only like you as a teammate and friend!"

The Akimichi man deflated and gave the woman a sad look. "Ino...okay, I'll give up. I hope you spend a good life with Marik-san."

He left with an aura of despair. **A/N: Victory for Darth Leathertush (Marik), loss for Choji! P.S., Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series!**

_'Awww, poor Choji, but I support Onii-chan.'_

_**'Yeah, he'll be an excellent mate for her and make her happy.'**_

"Temari, it was fun while it lasted, I'm sure that Otogi-san will be good for you," Shikamaru muttered.

"Shikamaru, I thought you'd be fighting for me. We dated for almost six years," Temari lightly argued.

"We did, but I can tell you love him, even if you've only been dating him a few short weeks," the Nara man conceded.

"I accept your blessing Shikamaru-san," Otogi replied with a smile, putting an arm around Temari's shoulders.

With a nod, Shikamaru slouched off, calm and lazy as always. **A/N: Victory(?) for Otogi, loss(?) for Shikamaru.**

_'Okay, what was that?'_

_**'That was typical Shikamaru.'**_

_'I expected at least somewhat of a fight, but I guess Shikamaru's just too lazy to hold onto his old girlfriend.'_

_**'Yep. One left?'**_

_'One left.'_

"Naruto-kun! I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were dating her! Please don't kill meeeeeee!" Ryou pleaded as he ran like a lion was out for his blood.

"Naruto, please calm down! Don't kill him!" Hinata cried, in tears.

Naruto was after Ryou like a cheetah, the Kyubi cloak up to five tails.

_**'Intervention!'**_

_'Definitely!'_

Misao lit up in her Nibi cloak with both tails, grappling with Naruto, who roared in fury, death in his eyes.

"Kurama, please take your chakra from Naruto! I'm not letting him kill my friend!"

The Kyubi cloak vanished and Naruto jumped back, the Nibi's chakra burning his hands. Misao shouted, "Are you _crazy_?! You're going to kill an innocent civilian over a _woman_?! You, the new Rokudaime Hokage?! What's gotten into you, UZUMAKI?!"

"That little jerk stole Hinata-chan out from under me! I'LL KILL HIM!"

She slapped him and left a burn mark shaped like her hand. "Idiot! When was the last time you actually paid an ounce of attention to her?! Is she really worth killing over?! Get your head out of your butt and see how she's clinging to him!"

Naruto stopped and held his smoking cheek. His blue eyes observed how Hinata looked scared to death, holding Ryou protectively while the man himself looked ready to wet himself with terror, even as he clung to her. He gritted his teeth before he asked her, "Hinata-chan, do you love him more than me?"

She relaxed and smiled. "Yes I do, Naruto. Please understand that I wasn't cheating on you. You just didn't notice as I fell out of love with you and found what I wanted in Ryou-kun. I still want to be your friend."

Tears dripped down Naruto's cheeks and he nodded. "Okay, Hinata-chan. Please forgive me for trying to kill him."

"I do." **A/N: Victory for Ryou, loss for Naruto! *grins through tears* I just broke up NaruHina! How do you like them apples? *sobs***

Naruto then hugged Misao. "Don't you forget to visit! I'll be waiting to hear the news about how the couples are doing!"

"I will, Naruto. I think Nanase and Oki really like you, since you have a similar aura to me."

"I'll find a girl who'll love me more than Hinata did and have a whole pile of kids!"

"I'm sure you will. Goodbye for now."

She returned to Itachi and Seto's side and waved, only for Tsunade shouted, "I'm taking a vacation to this other place!"

_'Oh great...Tsunade's coming...'_

_**'I hope she doesn't meet Yugi's grandfather...'**_

_'You just jinxed it.'_

_**'This ought to be Hell on Earth...well, Domino City...'**_

_'Speaking of...Domino City!'_

* * *

Who might've guessed the triangles would've broken up? Anyone? *crickets chirping*

*shrugs* Who approves of TsunadeXSugoroku? *roars with laughter* I know that won't go too well!

Please review!


	13. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Yu-Gi-Oh!

What's gonna happen next? Hmmm? Of course everyone's waiting for Death-T V2!

* * *

_'I think...I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel...'_

_**'I'm out...'**_

Misao mumbled, "Next time, we'll be finding...another way over..." before she fell flat on her face.

"Misao!" Seto shouted.

"Calm down Kaiba," Itachi mocked. "She's just suffering from chakra exhaustion."

"How can she have chakra exhaustion?! Her chakra's enormous by itself, let alone added to the Nibi's!"

"She just needs some rest and a good meal and she'll be fine."

Itachi lifted her up and her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she passed out.

* * *

Misao found herself floating in a white void that she'd never seen before. She blinked to help her eyes adjust, only to see a familiar silhouette.

"Yugi!"

He turned and she gasped at his figure: this was not Yugi, but the Spirit of the Sennen Puzzle, the Nameless Pharaoh. He looked just like the carving on the tablet now, save he looked shocked beyond all reason.

"Misao?! What're you doing here?!"

"My pharaoh! I didn't think to see you within my dreams!"

"This isn't a dream, this is the afterlife. Why would this be a dream?"

"I...I'm not dead, am I?"

"You must be."

"How could I be?! Did I strain myself that badly?! Kitty's gonna go wild in Domino City and kill everyone!"

"Is dying that terrible?"

"Of course it is! At least dying in Konohagakure no Sato or Kumogakure no Sato would mean that Kitty would be contained! No one in this world knows how to seal a Biju!"

He smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It seems you're not meant to die yet."

"How do you know?"

"Your form is fading."

She looked down and saw it was true. "Ah! Could you at least tell me your real name?"

"Atem."

* * *

"MISAO! WAKE UP OR SO HELP ME I'M DRAGGING YOU BACK TO KONOHA FOR GOOD!" Tsunade screamed.

Misao took a gasping breath before she opened her eyes, coughing. She looked to see Itachi and Seto standing at the foot of the bed, Tsunade's fist raised to punch her. She flinched and croaked, "I'm back..."

"Do you have any idea how much you scared everyone?! Don't you dare strain yourself again! You almost killed the Nibi too!"

She clutched her chest as she sat up. "My chest hurts...what happened?"

"Tsunade-sama had to restart your heart with a surge of chakra," Itachi explained as he came over and put his arms around her. "It just happened to have a lightning nature."

"No wonder I felt like I'd been hit with a Chidori..."

Seto pulled her away the next second. "Hands off, Uchiha. We had an agreement of no touching beyond casual until we solved this."

"Misao was dead for a full four minutes. I believe I'm allowed to hold her for a moment to show how relieved I am, Kaiba."

"I don't need you having all the fun while I'm the only one following the rules!"

"It was a mild infraction."

Misao slipped out from between the two as Tsunade checked her. "You need to eat a large meal to help recovering your chakra. Why did you suffer chakra exhaustion in the first place?"

"I use Kitty's chakra to travel from here to Konoha, but I guess I triggered the wrong energy to come back here. My Necklace should've taken the blow through magic."

"Almost losing you because of a mere mistake of which energy you're using? Don't do it again."

"I won't."

She stood on shaky legs and walked out of the room, steadying her breathing so she wouldn't worry anyone further. _'Kitty, are you with me?'_

_**'Shut up, I'm concentrating on reforming myself.'**_

_'Good to know you're not dead.'_

_**'No thanks to you.'**_

She smiled and descended the staircase with the help of both Tsunade and the banister. Mokuba, who was pacing with Sakura at his heels, spotted her first. "Misao! You're okay!"

He ran over and Sakura gasped, embracing her tightly with her boyfriend. "How are you feeling? Better?"

"Like I've been hit with a bolt of lightning and like I could eat an elephant, but beyond that, fine."

"You'd better not scare us like that again, or I think Nii-san would follow you," Sasuke reprimanded as he came over and hugged her as well, Shizuka wringing her hands.

"Are you really okay, Misao-chan?"

Misao grinned. "Yeah, once I get some food into me and some more rest, I'll be fit as a fiddle."

She went into the kitchen and sat down, the chef ready for her.

* * *

"I haven't seen anyone eat that much, even Naruto..." Sasuke and Sakura stated in unison.

"I haven't seen anyone eat that much, even Jonouchi," Mokuba and Shizuka countered right after.

Misao sighed, finishing her last bowl of curry with a flourish. "I feel so much better! That was wonderful!"

Tsunade shook her head. "Alright, back to bed with you. You need your sleep."

"But I—"

"I'm your doctor while I'm here, now come along! You're going to sleep until your chakra is at an acceptable level!"

"Awwww..."

* * *

Tsunade was stubborn about it, so she was resting until her legs no longer quivered under her weight. By that time Death-T Version Two was in the final stages of construction. Many of the couples who'd started dating in Konoha were now engaged or seriously thinking about marriage, Mokuba and Sasuke planning on having a double wedding right after their brothers duked it out. Sakura and Shizuka were okay with it, Jonouchi was to be Sasuke's best man and Yugi would be Mokuba's. It was going to be the biggest event in Japan next to the broadcast of Death-T.

Seto was gone most of the time making sure everything worked with Sasuke helping test, and everyone else was helping the engaged couples prepare for their weddings.

"Would you like to go on a walk with me, Tsunade-sama? You haven't been outside the Kaiba Mansion since I woke."

"And where would we go?"

"I can think of somewhere you'd like."

They ended up at Kame Game Shop, the ringing bell followed by a greeting by Yugi's grandfather.

"Welcome! How can I help you?"

Misao was in front, so he noticed her first.

"Oh Misao! Are you here to visit Yugi and Anzu?"

"No, I brought an old friend of mine to visit. This is Tsunade-sama, former Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato."

Tsunade stepped out from behind the younger woman and the old man's eyes turned into hearts.

"Wooo nelly! Aren't you the most beautiful woman I've ever set eyes on!"

Both women noticed right away that his eyes were locked on the retired Hokage's melon-sized breasts. Instead of walloping him one, she came over and leaned onto the counter. "You think I'm that beautiful, Mutou-san?"

His fingers twitched in their place on the glass case he stood behind. "Oh yes, Tsunade-san. Your—"

She put her fingers under his chin and gave a saccharine smile. "My eyes are up here."

He blanched and saw the danger he was in. "M-my apologies—"

"Do you just sell games, or do you play them, too?"

"Oh, you play games? I'm quite the avid collector and player! Would you like to pick a game and we'll play it?"

"For high stakes?"

"Of course! It wouldn't be fun otherwise!"

Misao coughed and looked away innocently when Tsunade gave her a death glare. _'He'll find out himself that she's the "Legendary Sucker".'_

_**'I'm sure we'll be around to watch each and every crushing defeat, since it's in the Mutou blood to be expert at any types of games. Would you like to peruse the store in the meanwhile? They've gotten quite a few new games since we last entered.'**_

_'Why not? I'll laugh if they play strip poker.'_

_**'I'll join you in the mockery of the scariest woman alive.'**_

* * *

Misao was grinning like a fool once they left the game shop, Tsunade billions of yen in debt (in gambling chips, of course) and owing more visits to Sugoroku, vowing she'd get it all back someday.

"Shut up, Misao."

"I'm not laughing, Tsunade-sama."

"Yes you are, _in-side_."

"I swear I'm not laughing."

"If you're not, the Nibi is."

This the Jinchuriki couldn't deny, because Matatabi was howling in laughter, rolling on the "floor" inside the seal. And it was infectious.

_'I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. Stop Kitty, you're gonna get me pounded into next week.'_

_**'Not. A. Single. Win! I can't take it!'**_

_'I see I'll have to try my hardest to keep my composure from breaking.'_

Tsunade scowled when she saw that Misao's face wasn't changing. "You find my constant bad luck so amusing you can't keep a straight face?"

"It's not my fault Kitty's about to split a seam, it's laughing so hard."

"If I could slug it, I would."

Matatabi's laughter increased at the comment and that's when Misao cracked—

—and had a furious Sannin chasing her all over Domino City, creating craters whenever she almost caught the giggling woman.

"MISAO, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

* * *

Did anyone guess differently when it came down to it? Tsunade has no chance against that kind of luck! *roars with laughter*

Please review!


	14. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Yu-Gi-Oh!

So, the preparations for the final battle begin... Any bets?

* * *

"I'll be at the top waiting Uchiha," Seto informed as he turned to an elevator. "Don't take too long, or I might take it as a forfeit."

"I'll probably beat you there," Itachi mocked as he headed for the main entrance.

But both stopped when Misao both gave them a kiss on the cheek. She smiled and pranced to the elevator. _'I'd say "good luck", but that'd jinx it, especially since Tsunade-sama's betting on the final match.'_

_**'Wise choice, let's not say anything together.'**_

_'A kiss to the cheek and here we go!'_

* * *

Yes, this was just a set up for the next chapter! I'm sure everyone will be hanging by a thread because of this short chapter!

Please review!


	15. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and Yu-Gi-Oh!

Last chapter here, folks! It may turn out as you expected, or maybe not! You decide!

* * *

Misao crossed her arms as she realized this competition had solved _nothing_. _'How could this have ended in a freakin' _double_ knockout?! What am I going to do now?!'_

_**'Now would be a good time to bow out and leave their lives forever.'**_

_'I think that would be good.'_

Before she could even begin to muster her power, Sasuke and Mokuba caught her expression and grabbed her by an arm each.

"Where are you going, Misao?" Sasuke asked tightly.

"You have to go down there and support them!" Mokuba insisted as they frog-marched her down to the arena. "Don't you think of leaving Nii-sama and Itachi when they both fought so hard for you!"

Misao gritted her teeth as she was shoved in front of the two prone men, who were being collected on gurneys. "But I don't deserve to be with either of them, I cheated on them and should just vanish."

"How could you be so blind?!" Mokuba shouted, glaring at her. "You know how much Nii-sama broke when you disappeared and he didn't know if you lived or died! If you leave now, he'll _never_ recover!"

"What about Nii-san?!" Sasuke picked up where Mokuba left off. "He's sacrificed so much so he could be with you, abandoning even his own world! He's even become somewhat friendly to Kaiba because he sees how much it hurts you when they fight! This fight ended in a tie, which means they both get you and will have to learn to share!"

Her eyes popped open in shock. _'Both of them? I never thought of that. I'm sure over time they'd learn to co-exist with each other. Do you hate the idea, Kitty?'_

_**'It seems we'll have to live with it, since they can't seem to reach a solution and fought each other to a standstill.'**_

_'Thanks, even if you don't like Seto as much as Itachi.'_

_**'You love him, so I'll just have to keep my mouth shut.'**_

* * *

When Itachi and Seto regained consciousness, Misao was there to tend to their wounds, although Sakura and Tsunade had healed them. It was just exhaustion ruling now.

"Misao," Seto murmured first, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips to kiss the palm. "You're still here. I'd thought you'd be long gone with Uchiha."

"With me?" Itachi questioned as he kissed the inner wrist of her arm. "She should be with you."

"I lost to you."

"No, I did."

Misao laughed and they both looked at her in curiosity. She beamed and announced, "It was determined it was a double knockout, so Mokuba and Sasuke say you both won. You're just going to have to share me."

They both frowned and shot each other exasperated looks, but she knew they were in agreement. The competition had been set up so they were both on equal ground and it seemed it had been _too_ equal. There was nothing left to do save learn to live with each other.

"So there's actually someone who doesn't live here anymore who beat you three times in Duel Monsters? Who was he?"

"I didn't know his name, I always thought he was Yugi."

"Yugi? He pales in comparison to this mysterious duelist?"

"Yes, even if I heard the rumor that he lost in his final duel before he vanished."

"Did you know anything about him?"

"Everything about him I've learned I see in Yugi now. He spoke about fate so much during Battle City I was ready to knock his teeth out, and he had a...majesty that not even Yugi shows now. His group of friends referred to him as 'pharaoh', but I don't believe in that mystic mumbo jumbo."

Misao, who was passing by with a smile on her face, came over and jumped between them. "I _know_ for a fact that Atem-san's an ancient pharaoh from Egypt, Seto! In fact, I sa—"

"You know his name?! Where did you learn that?! Not even his friends knew it!"

"I was going to explain how I know, sheesh," she mumbled with an eye roll. "When I was dead for those few minutes, I saw him in the afterlife. He told me his name just before Tsunade-sama brought me back."

Seto looked skeptical, but Itachi looked fascinated. The Uchiha man asked, "You hadn't seen him since he'd left, so what did he look like?"

She raised her hands and transformed into him, remembering every minute detail. "He looked like this," she said in his voice.

Seto's eyes went wide. "Are you a fox or tanuki? I thought only they had the power to transform."

She raised her eyebrows. "Every ninja learns this at the Academy. It's a handy skill to have during a mission where you have to fool the enemy into thinking you're one of them. I didn't think you believed in that kind of stuff."

"It's in children's books," he reminded her. "It's not like I believe in them, I just read them to Mokuba so much that I remember them better than some of the others."

"Ah. How well do you think I transformed?"

"If he was an Egyptian pharaoh, I'd say you were spot on."

She released the transformation and grinned. "I did it from memory, so if you say it's spot on, I did it perfectly."

He smirked. "Of course I'd know my eternal rival."

"I thought you never won unless it was with underhanded tactics."

"Why you—come back here!"

She laughed as he chased her around the couch, Itachi smirking at seeing Seto Kaiba losing all composure and chasing their wife around like a kid. It made him seem more human and less mechanical that he seemed these days as he worked day in and day out on the Duel Academy. He wouldn't be surprised that both Nanase and Ichiro would be enrolled there, and if Oki and Sotaro proved to have some potential, they would be too.

There were whispers of Misao being a gold-digger and other such nonsense, but Seto had squashed those flat as soon as they came up. Suing people had never been so fun.

And now, at this time, their lives were only starting and it would only get better from here.

* * *

And that's it! You decide if it was a satisfying ending!

Please review!


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